It Has To Be You
by tiramisuspice
Summary: Sometimes Maya asks Lucas for some crazy things. But this is definitely her craziest request yet. Lucaya Fluff AU
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I swear this is the last short story I'll start until I finish up at least another two ahahah! But my cat mated with a neighbour's cat and she's pregnant now! And then this story just hit me! (I don't know how I came up with it from that situation, but I knew I had to write this and it wouldn't leave me alone!) This was going to be in Love and War, but then as I wrote out the notes, I realized it was definitely more of a short story than individual set of standalone oneshots like the others so here we are! ;3  
**

 **Written because I desperately _needed_ practice writing off-kilter WAFF/Fluff and because I wanted to try my hand at a more vulnerable Maya.**

 **Rated T for Tactical Decisions**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

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Lucas hopped out of the cab and rushed into the Starbucks, thanking someone who held the door open for him. He searched around the crowded coffee shop, looking for the blonde head of hair of his best friend. She had texted him that she urgently needed to talk to him, so they'd set up a quick lunch meeting during their breaks. Lucas didn't have any appointments at noon, and Maya's next class wouldn't be until one.

It wasn't too difficult to see over the bustling heads, since most people in the shop were college and high school students who were shorter than him. He ignored some of the interested stares he received and headed towards the back. Maya had always preferred slight isolation to the tumult closer to the doors.

He found her seated at a table in the back near the windows, staring at the street and absentmindedly swirling her straw around in her drink. She had an untouched pastry in front of her and her chin resting on her palm. And that was how Lucas knew whatever she wanted to talk to him about was really bothering her if she wasn't scarfing down a ton of sweets.

He walked up to her table and seated himself in the chair across from her, blocking her view of the street and snapping her out of her little trance. She blinked in surprise and stared at him, looking a little caught off guard.

"Not hungry?" he asked her, cutting right to the chase. Idle chit chat would get them nowhere, and she usually got irritated with beating around the bush. "Are you sick?"

Maya shook her head, but otherwise didn't say anything. She stared down at her pastry, her eyes slightly narrowed. And Lucas knew it was bad. Not general bad for Maya like getting into a fight with her mom or having a student who gave her a hard time or some neighbour who wouldn't shut the hell up in the middle of the night. This was _bad_. Bad enough to make Maya Penelope Hart—who always had something to say—absolutely silent.

"Maya. What's wrong?"

She finally looked back up at him and sighed, running her fingers through her short blonde cut and then frowning and stopping when she realized the ends weren't as long as they once were. It was a little bit amusing to Lucas; she wasn't used to having the short hair. She'd wanted to give it a try, but she kept forgetting and doing routine things with her fingers that she used to do with her long hair.

"Lucas. I know we ended things five years ago, and I know this might be kind of crazy, but I have a serious request." She started nervously, chewing on the inside of her mouth. "You're my best friend, and I just thought I would ask you…"

She tapered off, staring at him, looking as if she had lost her nerve. Lucas frowned, concerned by how anxious she looked and sounded. Maya was usually always confident no matter what she did, but she really looked a bit lost and if he really thought about it, terrified.

"What is it Maya? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah I just…" she stopped again, taking a few small breaths and staring at the table.

"Is someone making you uncomfortable?" Lucas growled, his fists clenching.

Back in college, there had been a number of assholes and dicks who tended to try to go after Maya because they'd thought since she was blonde, she was easy. And unfortunately, that hadn't changed even in her adulthood. Lucas had had to mess up a couple of them, and if he needed to crank back out some violence to keep some creep away from Maya, he would.

She shook her head. "It's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?" Lucas said, a little impatient. He couldn't sit at the Starbucks all day. Despite his next appointment not being until two, he still had a lot of things to finish up, and she wasn't saying anything.

"Alright. Let me just put it out there." Maya took a deep breath, meeting his gaze head on. "Lucas, can you be my baby daddy?"

Lucas stared at Maya, absolutely positive he hadn't heard her right just then. He remained silent, watching as she twiddled her thumbs and wondering if he had actually heard the right words come out of her mouth. He was a bit sleep deprived, and he hadn't gotten enough rest last night. He'd been off his game all day. He'd probably heard it wrong.

Who the hell was he kidding? He'd heard her right, alright.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked incredulously, raising a brow.

"Shit, hold on. I didn't start off well." Maya winced, looking like she was mentally berating herself. "Look. The truth is, I work with a lot of kids from early junior high to late high school and I don't know… As time has gone by, I can't help but feel more and more like there's something missing in my life. And then I realized what that something missing was that I was searching for."

Lucas felt himself sweat as she spoke, knowing what she was about to say before the words left her mouth.

"I want a kid. I really, really do. As weird as that sounds for me—and trust me, no one was more surprised than me—I want to raise a child of my own one day too. I've been thinking about it for a couple years now. I'm twenty-nine. Time is flying by." She let out a small, breathless laugh that was neither happy nor despairing. "Lucas, I've been hurt so many times I just don't trust anyone. There are no prospects right now and I honestly don't know if I want to wait forever for one to show up. Not to mention it'd be a long time before I could learn to trust him. And you know I don't want marriage."

Oh he knew.

Lucas' brows furrowed. "So what exactly are you proposing, Maya?"

"I thought about who to ask for a pretty long time. We've been friends since middle school. I trust you more than I trust any other guy I know. And I know you're a great guy with a great personality. So I was wondering if you could be my sperm donor."

Lucas remained quiet for a long while, just staring at Maya. She wasn't averting her gaze anymore. Clearly she was very serious about this, but the only thing going through Lucas' mind was just how utterly _crazy_ her request was. She was asking him to father her child. Nevermind the fact that Maya wanted a kid that badly that she wasn't willing to wait (which was the most mindboggling thing he had ever heard in his life), but it was the fact that she was asking _him_ to be the other half of her baby.

"Maya, do you even know what you're asking?" he said at last, a frown on his face, "You're asking me to father your kid so you can raise it in the city. The city where we run into each other every day. Do you know how weird that is?"

"I know… And I know after our breakup our friendship was completely ruined, and I know it took us three years to even get back to this point, and I know _this_ could very well make things awkward again, but I'm willing to take that risk. That's how important it is to me for you to be the father of my child." Maya sighed dejectedly, "I know it's messed up to ask you, but I can't think of anyone else."

He felt for her. He really did, but this wasn't like asking to borrow money or to borrow his car or anything. This was something serious and involved bringing to life another human being. This wasn't a joke. It wasn't something that could ever be taken back once it happened. She couldn't just _undo_ anything. And Lucas would very much have to live each day knowing he had a child in the city from _Maya_ no less.

"Why do you want a kid so badly that you can't wait?"

"You know why…" Maya picked at the pastry for a few quiet seconds before looking back up. "Lucas, I grew up with a messed up home life, a mother who dated around, but never settled, a life where I barely saw my mother growing up. And despite all that, you would think I wouldn't want kids. But I do. That kind of lonely existence still exists in my heart. I've always wanted a family of my own. A real family. I want to bring a child into this world and have a family now. I want to form a connection with them that I never truly had with my mom. I want to be able to share my love of literature and art with a kid someday. Maybe this is just my biological clock going crazy, but I want to be a mom.

"And I've thought about adopting for a while. But in the end, I knew what I wanted was a baby. _My_ baby." Maya sighed, "The sperm bank selection process has an enormous amount of nuances to properly discuss and consider. Not to mention I'd have a long selection process mapping out and deciding possible candidates and maybe having to meet them if I need a bit more substantial evidence on their personalities. I mean hell, the guy could have a total douchebag personality I wouldn't want my kid to develop. So I thought why not ask someone who I've known for countless years who I already knew could father a great kid. And after that, I knew I wanted you to be the donor."

"Maya, that's a lot to ask for." Lucas said seriously, still feeling awkward and iffy about the request she had made.

"Which is why I perfectly understand why you would refuse or say no. But I just wanted to let you know I'm asking this of you as a friend. There are no tricks involved. No gimmicks. I wouldn't hold you to anything. I'd do this in vitro in a fertilization clinic."

"In vitro? Isn't that an expensive process?"

"While it is _somewhat_ expensive, I've been saving up for a while for this, so I'll still be okay."

Lucas frowned. As much as she was saying he wouldn't have to be involved if he did not want to, that still didn't change the fact that he would have to see this child every time he saw Maya. What were they supposed to do if the child grew up and figured out he was the father anyway? Maya wasn't thinking this through.

"I know it's just a huge request, and one that isn't just simple, but I really want you to know I'm serious about this..." Lucas grew concerned when Maya's voice cracked the slightest bit. When she glanced up, he noticed the stormy blue-grays were somewhat glassy. "And if you don't want to be my donor, I understand. I'll respect that, and I won't bring it up again."

An extended uncomfortable silence fell over their table, Lucas staring at Maya and Maya staring at the table dejectedly. It lasted for a few minutes, the two of them completely in their own world and oblivious to the sound of bustling patrons of the Starbucks, despite the ample amount of noise.

Lucas could tell this was really messing her up. And Maya was rarely affected by things.

"Maya." Lucas finally said. Maya looked up at him, wiping the tears away with her sleeve, looking annoyed with herself for crying. "I care about you a lot. And I want you to be happy."

"But…?"

"But I don't know if I can just accept this right away. I need some time to think."

She cracked a small smile, sniffling. "I know. You wouldn't be Huckleberry if you didn't properly weigh all pros and cons. But thank you for giving it a thought and not automatically rejecting the idea."

Lucas sighed, running his hand through his hair. This was absolutely crazy.

Maya checked her watch and stood up, putting the pastry back into the brown bag before picking it up along with her iced drink. "I have to go back to work. My next class is starting soon."

"Maya." Lucas stood up as well. "If I say no, what's your backup plan?"

She paused, staring at the ground for a while before she looked up at him seriously.

"I can't see anyone else as the donor except for you." she said honestly, "If you say no, I think I'd give up."

Lucas stared at her in slight shock, his pulse speeding up a little bit at her words. Maya smiled and stood high on her tiptoes, putting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a soft kiss on his cheek.

"No pressure or anything." She said with a smile before backing away and turning with a wave.

Lucas stood in the same spot next to the café table for a second, a little lost and still trying to decide if that conversation with Maya had really just happened. He sighed, heading out of the Starbucks to go back to his clinic.

He had a hell of a decision to make.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okie doke :) Here's the next chapter of this story!  
**

 **Thank you for the sweet reviews to this story :) I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter! Hopefully the story can be enjoyable for you as it continues! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

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Lucas stared outside his office window, lost in thought as he chewed on the end of his ball-point pen. He was supposed to finish out writing the post appointment notes on the file in front of him but his mind was the farthest thing from Tina's pregnant cat Pearl.

They were on Maya.

And Maya's crazy proposal.

She wanted a kid. With him as the sperm donor.

She wanted him to be the other half of her child.

Maya wanted him to donate sperm so she could have a baby.

There was just so much crazy in that request he wasn't even able to figure out where to start thinking.

"Lucas."

And not to mention the fact that she wanted this to be impersonal. But there was no way the situation could be impersonal for him. Not if Maya was going to be the one having the kid.

" _Lucas_!"

And then there was the fact that Maya had made it clear that she didn't want just anyone's sperm. She wanted _his_ specifically. And if he didn't accept her proposal, Maya would give up completely. How could she even begin to think her no pressure comment would lighten the weight? It made it worse! She had left him completely responsible for her future with a child.

A sharp object poked him right in between his eyebrows, and he cursed under his breath, jumping in his chair and dropping his pen on his desk with a clatter.

"Dammit, Emma. What are you doing?" Lucas glowered at his intern in annoyance when he saw that she had poked him with the sharp edge of her pencil.

Emma rolled her eyes, pulling her arm back and settling back into the seat on the other side of his desk.

"Your brows were so furrowed I thought my pencil could get stuck in the crack."

Lucas narrowed his eyes at her.

Emma had been his intern since she'd graduated high school about four years ago. She'd started out as a meek and uncertain intern but years of working with him had made her somewhat cocky, and she had no qualms annoying him and poking fun at him. He missed the old, demure Emma Weathersbee before college (and Ava Morgenstern) got to her and she became Miss Snark.

"I've been calling your name for like ten minutes now." she said in exasperation.

"I highly doubt it's been that long seeing as how we've been in this office only seven."

"Whatever. The point is that you've been spacing out for a while." Emma set her pencil down on the table and closed the file she was reading over. "And I came here to get experience, but if my boss isn't doing any of his work or teaching me, then where does that leave me? So let's get whatever is distracting you out of the way. Come on. Out with it, Lucas."

He stared at her, debating whether he should tell her or not. He wasn't sure how much of it was really her business, but she _was_ a woman. Maybe she'd be able to help shed some light on how he should respond to this. And hell, Lucas had no idea where to even start. He needed help.

"I uh… it's my friend. She asked me to father her child earlier today."

"Eww. I don't want to know about that." Emma said. "Like, I had my suspicions that women threw themselves at you for your highly coveted, beautiful green eyed, tall, tanned, chiseled jaw, great bone structured, gorgeous—"

"Are you done?" He gave her a dry look.

"—athletic, muscular, honest, intelligent, gentlemanly, Prince Charming, Mr. Perfect sperm and all." She grinned. "But eww. That's still well beyond my payroll to know about."

"Not like that." He clarified, closing Pearl's file with a sigh. "She meant sperm donor. And she said I'm the only option or she's not having a baby at all."

"Oh." Emma frowned, "Wow. That's a pretty intense request. Does she just want your tadpoles, or is she asking for a relationship too?"

"Just the sperm." Lucas said, "She said she plans to raise the baby on her own, without my help or intervention. But the thing is, I see her too often for that kind of arrangement to even be remotely feasible. I don't even know what to think. I don't even know where to start. I'm still kind of in shock."

"Well…" Emma said pensively, "Start with the outcome. If you say yes and decide to let her go through with _her_ plan, think about what would happen to the baby. That kid is going to grow up with an absentee father, always wondering who you are and why you didn't want to stick around for them. And the worst part will be that you'll be right in the city and uninvolved in their life. Case in point: they'll have a lot of questions. Especially when they're at that adolescent stage of trying to figure out their identity. And if they should happen to meet you by some chance, which is inevitable when they track you down, there will always be some resentment towards you. Do you really want them to go through that kind of life?"

"No." Lucas frowned, "And neither would she. She grew up with an absentee father and half a mom. She says it never bothered her, but I know it's something that contributed to her mistrust and jaded outlook on life."

"So maybe the whole 'father isn't involved' plan isn't the best…" Emma pointed out, "And you know? From what you just said, it sounds like she just really wants someone in her life that will need her and will love her unconditionally because she never really received that kind of love and attention from her own parents. It seems like she came to the conclusion that a baby was what she needed to fill that void. You need to make sure that she's doing this for the right reasons."

"I think you might be right about her motivations deep down. I'll ask her." Lucas said, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "But I don't want to be an absent father. Because no matter how uninvolved I might be, nothing will change the fact that I'll be the father. And I'll always be paternally responsible for them. I can't just not be involved. Because I know I'll have a strong emotional bond to the child if I do this. I'll love any child of mine, regardless of how they came to exist."

Especially a child of his born from Maya.

"Well then that brings up a whole other set of questions and situations to think about." Emma said, a sympathetic look on her face at his plight, "So let's pretend you do give her your male tears and you're in your baby's life. Think about the day-to-day. Look at it this way. Your friend intends to raise the baby as a single woman, even if you still will be involved. By the way, is she a looker? Which friend of yours is this?"

"Maya."

Emma's brows furrowed as she tried to match the face with the name, chewing on the corner of her lower lip as she ran through his list of friends in her mind. She looked at him in surprise after a few seconds.

"The tiny blonde with the dreamy blue eyes?"

"Yeah."

"As in the tiny blonde with the dreamy blue eyes that you told me you proposed to and got rejected by?"

"Yeah."

"And she wants you to donate your sperm so she can have your kid?"

"Yupp."

"That is so messed up."

"I know…"

"Although…" She stretched out the word, her brown eyes twinkling excitedly, "You guys could have a gorgeous kid together. Think about the genes your kid could inherit! Seriously though. You two could make a _stunning_ kid."

"Do you always obsess about couples and what their kids would look like?"

"What? It's a perfectly fine hobby."

"You need to find a new hobby." He said, giving her a blank look. "And you're supposed to be helping me figure out whether to accept it or not."

Emma cleared her throat. "Right. So there's always a possibility of Maya meeting and dating someone. What I was saying was what happens if she meets someone who ends up filling the paternal position in her relationship? What if her lover doesn't want you around anymore? I can only imagine the guy will feel intimidated by your presence, especially if he's trying to connect with and form a relationship with Maya's child. Your continued presence could easily hinder that process and if the kid doesn't like step-daddy over real daddy then that puts the guy's relationship with Maya in jeopardy. No woman would stick with a guy who their kid doesn't like."

"Maya's not really interested in dating other people. She doesn't trust them. And she made it clear that she's not interested in marriage in the least."

"Right. _Clearly_." Emma snorted. "I mean, who the hell turns down a marriage proposal from Lucas Friar and his magical sperm anyway?"

She sheepishly lifted her hands with an apologetic grin when Lucas shot her an irritated glare.

"Sorry, I had to make the joke!"

"Can we move on?"

"Okay, so what if _you_ meet a woman." Emma continued. "How would she feel about the fact that you have a child in the city with another woman who you are helping to raise? And if you happen to meet someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, how would she feel about having to share you between any children you might have together and your child with Maya?"

Lucas stared at the desk with a frown.

"That won't be an issue for me." He said quietly.

"What do you…" Her eyes widened. " _Wait!_ Do you still want to marry Maya?!"

He remained silent, staring at the scuffs and pencil marks adorning the top of his office desk.

Of course he still wanted to marry Maya. Nothing had changed since they'd broken up.

After all, it was _Maya_ who hadn't wanted to marry _him_.

She'd told him she felt things between them were too serious, and she didn't want to end up with a marriage that would crumble like her parents' did. Despite giving up and accepting the fact that she would never love him as much as he loved her, he'd never gotten over his feelings for her. Hell, he'd already decided in college years ago that she was the one he wanted to marry. It was why he had proposed to her after they'd been dating for several years. It was also why when she'd said no, his heart had been ripped to pieces.

And that had been the reason why he hadn't been able to talk to her for so many years after the terrible fight that had ensued. Even now, sometimes he still had his reservations, but she seemed like she was over it, so he tried not to let it show on his face.

"Wow! This is even more dramatic than I thought. Does she know you still have feelings for her even after all these years?"

"No. She thinks things have ended on both ends."

"So then isn't this your dream come true? You can have children with her!"

"This isn't exactly the way I envisioned having children with Maya though."

No. He envisioned them living in a quaint apartment with their kids and sharing peaceful and quiet evenings (or not so quiet depending on their mood). He had envisioned them growing old together watching as their children grew and their children's children grew.

"But I figured it out! Your conflict isn't because you _don't_ want to father a child. You _want_ to have children with Maya. You just don't want her to distance herself from you after she has your child!" Emma exclaimed, squealing excitedly. "I bet deep down you're ecstatic that she asked you out of any other guy. You are such an adorable little boy!"

He gave her a look. "I'm seven years older than you, Emma."

"So what? When it comes to love, you sir, are a hot mess."

Lucas groaned, slumping in his chair and resting his chin on his desk. "So what do I do? If I say yes, I'll want to stick around for the kid, and Maya will probably want to distance herself. If I say no, Maya has no kid, and she'll still probably want to distance herself. Either way, I'm screwed."

"Have you considered telling her how you feel first?"

"What? Maya wouldn't want that burden. She doesn't feel the same way anymore, and if she knows I'm still interested, she won't consider me as a donor at all."

"You sure about that?" Emma's brows furrowed.

"About what?"

"About her feelings, Lucas." She stated, "Have you thought about the fact that maybe she only considered you out of all other close male friends she has because she only wants children with _you_? For someone apparently so desperate to have a kid, she sure seems like she's giving up too easily by saying she won't have any kids at all if you say no. You told me that she rejected your proposal for _marriage_ , but that doesn't mean she didn't want a future with you with children."

Lucas frowned. "Wait, what?"

"Marriage and having children are mutually exclusive events." Emma said, leaning her elbows on his desk and regarding him seriously, "You can want to marry someone but not have kids. Just like you can want children with someone, but not want to marry them. Maybe that's what she wanted."

And Lucas' eyes widened in surprise, his jaw slackening at her words. He had never thought of it that way before. What if Emma was right? What if that was the case with Maya?

And Lucas suddenly felt an inkling of hope build up in his chest. Hope and a determination to set things straight between them once and for all. He'd been hiding how he felt for long enough. Maya slipped through his fingers five years ago, and he let her go. And for five years he'd been pretending to himself and to her that he had no feelings.

"You're right." He finally responded, "I do need to tell her how I feel. And I'm going to accept her proposal tomorrow. But not on her terms. I need to make one thing clear to her: I'm not going to father a child with her and step away like it means nothing. If she wants me to father her child, then we're going to do this right."

"Good for you, Lulu." Emma grinned, leaning over and ruffling his hair.

He gave her a raised brow. "Lulu?"

"It's cute!" She teased, a playful smile on her face, "You're like the clueless younger brother I never had."

"I'm _older_ than you." He repeated for the probably billionth time that day alone, though he knew it was ineffective.

"Older, younger, it doesn't matter. A clueless brother is a clueless brother."

"I give up." He rolled his eyes good naturedly and flipped Pearl's file back open, intending to finish up. "In any case, get the file for my appointment in twenty minutes."

"Roger that."

Emma checked his appointment schedule quickly and then pushed her feet off his desk, allowing her rolling chair to surge backwards towards the file cabinet behind her. She spun around and snapped it open, shuffling quickly through the patient files before grabbing the right one and rolling herself back to his desk. Years ago, Lucas' file cabinets hadn't been in any kind of order, and he'd scrambled to find files seconds before appointments, but thanks to Emma, she'd organized everything and managed to create the perfect system for quick retrieval.

"Alright. It's go time. You need to get your mind off of cute blondes having your baby and focus on your appointment." Emma flipped through the file and skimmed some of the details. "Quiz time. Who's Donut?"

"A purebred honey coloured Pomeranian in rehab. His owner's name is Ravina Aguillon. We released Donut from our ICU about a month and a half ago after having surgery for a fracture in his back right leg from jumping down from a three story balcony."

"And the reason for his visit?"

"He's receiving an x-ray today so we can see where he is in his healing process and to determine if the ligament damage has subsided. Any further deliberations in his treatment will depend on whether his recovery is on schedule."

Emma whistled low. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Your life is always crazy, yet I've never seen you stumble in work. How do you keep focus so well?"

"It's a gift." Lucas said with a smirk, finishing off Pearl's file and sliding it across the desk to Emma. She tossed him Donut's in return. "Review my post appointment notes and file it please. I'll see you in the examination room."

"I'll get right on it, Boss."

Lucas stood up and left his office, heading to go prep the room for the appointment.

So he was going to be a father.

Now the only thing was how Maya would take what he had to say on the matter.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: LOL this story doesn't actually have a _real_ plot, but I'm glad you guys are enjoying it nonetheless ^_^ If you guys are happy, I'm happy :) Gonna try to knock out two chapters today xD Let's see if I succeed!  
**

 **Ummm I guess this is something of an angst fic guys? LOL categorize it however you wish *u*  
**

 **I really appreciate you reading the story everyone! Thank you for being so sweet! It means a lot to me :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

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Lucas walked through the art hallway of the school, curiously glancing at the portraits on the walls and photographs and ceramics pieces in the glass display cases. He smiled to himself when he walked by a small display showing a piece Maya had won in some professional competition. He could tell she was definitely the pride and joy of this school. She looked a little funny in the photograph at the head of the display squished in between the judges who towered over her by more than a head. And undeniably cute.

Since it was just about noon and lunch hour was upon them, students were rushing down the hall, chattering and giggling excitedly about finally getting to have a small break from lectures and chat with friends. He got a couple looks from some of them, no doubt wondering who the hell he was.

Lucas passed by a small computer lab and turned a corner before he finally arrived at Maya's studio art room. He walked in the doorway and saw that she was talking to a student, so he waited, leaning patiently against the doorway and watching her.

"Class was super kick ass today. What are we doing tomorrow?" her student asked, a grin on his face as he tugged on his worn leather jacket.

"It's a surprise, Joey." Maya smirked as she cleaned up some brushes from the table. "But if you want a hint, it involves spray paint. And some splatters, so make sure to wear something you don't mind getting dirty."

"Hells to the yes!" Joey grinned, pumping a fist in the air. "Hey, if I correctly guess what the lesson is, will you go on a date with me on Friday?"

"No."

She shook her head with a roll of her eyes and when she moved to put the bunch of brushes in a bin, one dropped from her hands and rolled across the floor. It hit Lucas' shoe, and Maya suddenly noticed him standing there. She jumped slightly in surprise, clearly not expecting to see him, and a small gasp escaped her lips.

"Lucas! Dammit, stop sneaking up on me!"

"Hey, is this guy giving you a hard time?" Joey asked with snarl, standing up from his stool threateningly. "Want me to rough him up for you, Maya?"

Lucas rose a brow, giving him a dry look. Was this kid for real? Lucas didn't know how old Joey was, yet he was sizing Lucas up with a glare as if he had no qualms getting into a fight with a grown adult. Clearly he had a thing for Maya. Although Lucas didn't blame him. Hell, currently Lucas was in the same boat of an unrequited love.

"It's fine." Maya said with a sigh, taking the brush from Lucas after he stooped and picked it up for her, "I know him. He's a friend."

"And by 'friend', do you mean _just_ a friend or do you mean someone who's boning you?" Joey's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he stared at Lucas uneasily. "Shit, look at this guy. It's the second one, isn't it? Fuck my life."

Maya snorted in amusement, rolling her eyes as she tossed the dirty brush into the bin. She picked up the bin of art supplies covered in paint and lugged it to the sink, dropping it in with a loud clatter.

"That?" She dusted her hands of dried paint flakes. "Is none of your business. Now get out of my room so I can talk to him, you little shit."

He grinned. _"Oooh,_ I love it when you talk to me like that."

"Joey."

"Alright, alright. I'm out." He grabbed his schoolbag and made his way out of the classroom, making the 'I've got my eyes on you' motion to Lucas as he walked out the door. Lucas was tempted to laugh, a small smile on his face at the amusing antics. "See you tomorrow, Maya."

"Do your homework for your other classes!" She called out after him.

"Not a chance!" He shouted back.

Maya rolled her eyes again and then plopped down on one of the chairs, kicking her feet up on another across from her and rubbing her neck.

"It's only the middle of the day, and I'm already exhausted…"

"Your student certainly seems to really like you." Lucas smiled, walking over and leaning against the edge of the table near her. " _A_ _lot_."

He could definitely see that Maya would be good with children. He'd already suspected she'd be a caring mother back when she would volunteer to teach art at the children's hospital back when they were in college. It warmed his heart to see the care and attention she gave them all, making sure they could be happy despite the rough hand they'd been dealt in life. He figured her adamancy that the children enjoyed themselves emanated from the childhood she never truly had. Seeing that care and attention again widened the smile on his face.

Maya would be a great mother, he could tell.

"Not sure if that's a good thing." She said with a snort, "He's a pain in the ass sometimes."

Lucas nodded, and they sat in a somewhat uncomfortable silence for a bit, Lucas observing the half-finished portraits and paintings drying on abandoned easels to avoid looking at her. Maya fiddled with the bottom of her top, her eyes staring holes into the ground.

Lucas wanted to bash his head into a wall. The silence was ironically loud and grating his ears like nails running down a chalkboard. He hadn't expected this to turn out so damn awkward. But then again, what did he expect after a loaded request like hers? And to add to that, he was planning to confess to her too which only made his nerves increase.

He felt kind of stupid, like he was back to being the flustered, nervous wreck he was at twenty, trying and failing to ask Maya out until she lost patience and showed up at his dorm, dressed up and telling him they were going out to dinner.

But this wasn't quite the same situation.

After all, this could very well break the thin strings holding their already fragile relationship together.

"Hey, uh…" she finally said a little awkwardly, "Want to get some lunch? It's my break. And I'm assuming you're here because of my request."

"I… I'd love to, but I have an appointment in an hour. And honestly, I meant to make this quick." Lucas' eyes met hers and he noted the hint of unease in the murky blue-gray. "I made up my mind."

Maya sighed, eyes downcast and her expression hidden from his view. "So if it's quick, I'm assuming it's a no?"

"Maya. I need to know." Lucas moved her feet from the chair across her and sat down in it. She brought her gaze back to his, eyebrows lifting expectantly. "Do you actually want a baby, or is it because you want someone to love you and need you unconditionally? Because what are you going to do when your baby grows up and no longer needs you? Keep having more babies?"

She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it, her brows furrowed pensively. She stared at her hands wrung in her lap for a while before she met his gaze once again.

"You know, I wonder that myself sometimes. I know there is this desire for someone to need me deep down somewhere. And maybe that was my main motivation at one point in time." She shrugged and smiled slightly. "But I also do know that I want children because I've always wanted to have a family of my own. And that's the truth. I just want a family."

He held her gaze for a moment, sensing only sincerity in her words. A sincerity and something like a shrouded yearning that made him wonder just how long Maya had been craving to have children. The thing about her expression was that, although she wasn't necessarily emoting anything profound, there was something deeply etched in her eyes that told him she'd been having these thoughts for a while. She had told him she'd been thinking those thoughts for a _couple_ years, but was that really true? Could there have been a possibility that she'd been thinking those thoughts while they'd been together?

Emma's words came crashing back to him.

Marriage and children were not mutually exclusive.

Lucas swallowed thickly, bracing himself for what could possibly happen. It was now or never. There was a good chance that he could lose Maya after this. But there was also a chance things would work out. Either way, he wouldn't know unless he took a leap of faith and wished for the best.

"Alright Maya. I'll be your donor." Lucas stated. Maya let out a little squeal, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. " _But_ I have a few conditions. If you're going to be raising our child in the city, then I want to be involved."

"Why?" She looked a little confused.

"Because I also want to raise a family." He held his tongue from saying the 'with you' at the end of his sentence. That had to wait until he got everything else he wanted to say out of the way first. "You're going to be having my kid, and I'm going to get emotionally attached. I don't want to be robbed of a chance of seeing my child grow up, and I don't want them to grow up without a father. I want to assume paternal responsibility."

She nodded. "Fair enough."

"And I don't mean me showing up every once in a while to take our kid off your hands." He clarified, "I mean joint custody. I want us to raise our child together."

"But how would that work?"

"I think... we should live together." Lucas scratched the back of his neck when Maya gave him an odd look. "Hear me out: we lived together for four years, so we know how we work, and it wouldn't be a huge problem for either of us since we're pretty compatible as flatmates. We can live in separate rooms and only see each other when necessary if you want. And after our kid grows up enough, like maybe high school, I can move out again."

"So roommates."

"Yeah, except with a child."

She frowned in thought for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Okay. That's fine, I guess. It could work. But I'm moving in with you. Your apartment has more room."

Lucas nodded. "And one more thing. If we're going to do this, if we're raising a family, we're going to do this the right way."

She frowned, apprehension in her eyes. "Lucas, I don't want to get married. You already know this."

"I didn't say anything about marriage."

Maya stared at him in confusion for a while, brows knitted as she tried to figure out what he meant. And then he watched as the apple of her cheeks rouged the slightest bit and her eyes widened in understanding.

"W-what…? You're serious?"

He shrugged, though even he couldn't deny that he felt a little embarrassed meeting her gaze. But he kept himself from looking at the Donald Duck clock on the wall behind her head.

"In vitro is an expensive process, regardless of how much you saved. Losing fifteen thousand dollars isn't worth it. The way I see it, there's no need for you to spend all that money on a procedure that carries certain risks and possible room for error and mistakes when we're both viable. Also the procedure could fail." He scratched the back of his head. "I think the natural way is a more fullproof method. I mean, if it's alright with you."

"So you mean…" She tapered off, though he knew what she was trying to say.

"Yeah."

She stared at her lap, looking conflicted, the tips of her ears the slightest bit red. "Lucas, do you even realize what you're suggesting? You're asking for something kind of crazy."

"Really? My suggestion is crazy?" He snarked, "This coming from the woman who came out of nowhere asking me to father her child."

"Do you even realize how many times it might take before we're successful? It could take months before we get any results. _Several_ months."

"I still think it's a better method than going to a fertilization clinic. Maybe longer. But safer."

"Okay…" She rose a brow at him. "So you're perfectly fine with me treating it like a process then?"

"I never said that."

Maya's gaze grew bewildered, some concern creeping into the edge of her gaze. She leaned a little away from him, a suspicious glare on her face.

"What?"

It was now or never. Lucas let out a slow breath, meeting Maya's gaze head on.

"If you want me to father your child Maya, you have to know that it won't be impersonal for me. I won't be able to just write it off like an arrangement. Because truth is, despite the fact that we've been over for years, I still love you. And I still only see you as the only woman I want to marry. And I still see you as the only woman I've ever wanted to have a family with."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Maya stood up abruptly, her eyes wide and looking perturbed. "Hold on a second! What the hell are you saying?"

"I've never gotten over you, Maya. And I probably never will. So if you plan on having me as your donor, then I'm telling you right now that you have to be prepared for my emotional baggage because I love you. I'm still in love with you."

" _Stop_. Wait a minute." She took a step backwards, away from him, shaking her head. Lucas bristled, forcing his face to remain neutral, though this whole confrontation was starting to look a lot like five years ago when Maya told him she couldn't marry him. "Lucas—"

"Those are my conditions and those are some things you need to know if we're going to do this."

"Lucas, wait." She ran her hand through her hair in exasperation. "I can't—"

He cut her off, standing up to leave. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the rest of her sentence.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. If you honestly no longer want to do this, I understand. But I just wanted to let you know that this 'arrangement' wouldn't be just that for me."

"Lucas…"

She stared up at him, her expression difficult to read, though he didn't want to try to pick it apart. He was sure what he could find would tear him apart.

He smiled, though he knew it was somewhat fake. "I'll see you around."

Maybe he was being ridiculous and childish and maybe he was running away, but he'd already had his heart stomped into pieces by Maya before. He wasn't sure he could handle it if it happened again. Or at the very least, he needed a chance to recuperate before Maya shot him down.

Before Lucas walked out the door, he stopped and glanced back at Maya. She was staring at him wistfully, her expression conflicted, looking like she had something important she needed to say.

But she didn't say it.

She didn't say a word.

Just stared at him, the same doleful expression in her glistening eyes.

Lucas walked out of the room, letting out a long sigh as he trudged down the halls of her school, hoping that despite this new monkey wrench he'd thrown at their relationship, Maya would still consider what he had told her.

He'd really gone and done it now.

He'd revealed it all, and she knew how he felt. If she so chose to never speak to him again, he wouldn't be surprised at all. Lucas groaned, running a hand through his hair as he made his way out of the building.

What she chose to do next would probably define their relationship in the future. Now she was the one with a decision to make, and he was the one waiting for an answer.

How the tables had turned…


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: There's always gotta be at least one in my stories.  
**

 **Thank you for the awesome reviews! I'm really grateful for all your kind words and the interest in this story. Thank you, loves! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas turned into the parking lot of his complex, cutting the engine and leaning his head against the steering wheel. He was so stupid. So, so stupid.

It had been about five days since that disastrous confrontation in Maya's classroom, and as he suspected, she'd completely cut off contact with him. She hadn't spoken to him at all nor had she sought him out. She was avoiding him on purpose, and he knew it was all his fault.

But Lucas couldn't help it. He loved her. And he couldn't be the father of her child without her eventually picking up on it and realizing that. So it was better that she found out beforehand.

But Farkle was right. They _were_ a messed up pair of people.

* * *

 _"How's Riley?" Lucas asked, taking a sip of his soda._

 _"She's alright." Farkle responded. "I don't think D.C. is big enough to handle her though."_

 _"I don't think D.C. is big enough to handle the both of you…"_

 _"Also true…" Farkle snorted, "But enough about that. I didn't come to visit you just for small talk. Riley sent me on an emergency mission because she couldn't come up herself. But she talked to Maya on the phone, and she said that Maya was barely functioning properly, which has only happened twice: when her grandmother passed and when you two broke up."_

 _Lucas grimaced, his glass halfway to his mouth._

 _"So by deductive reasoning, I figured you were the cause or involved." Farkle slowly rotated his finger along the rim of his own glass as he watched Lucas carefully. "And judging by your reaction just now, I was right."_

 _Lucas let out a long sigh, setting his glass back down on the coaster of the bar counter. Nearby him and Farkle, a group of rowdy men were cheering when their team scored another touchdown._

 _"I messed up, Farkle." Lucas groaned, "I really messed up and now Maya is avoiding me for real."_

 _"What happened?"_

 _So Lucas told him everything. Maya's want of a baby, her request he be the donor, his conditions and terms, his stupid confession to her. Everything. Farkle listened attentively, nodding occasionally, his azure gaze thoughtful as Lucas revealed all that had happened the week before._

 _"Wow… It's actually a lot less intense than what Riley thought."_

 _"What?" Lucas frowned in confusion._

 _"She thought you two drunkenly slept together and Maya ran and pretended like it meant nothing and then found out she was pregnant and started avoiding you."_

 _"Oh." Lucas chuckled fondly. That was classic Riley. She usually always jumped to the most extreme conclusions. "It's not that bad. But she did get the baby bit somewhat correct."_

 _"Yeah. But now I wasted a couple days flying up here when it isn't even something that serious."_

 _"Hey!" Lucas said in offense. "It's serious to me. Maya's absence is hard to deal with because we're always hanging out."_

 _Those two years where they didn't speak had left a huge impact in his life and it had been incredibly hard to develop a rhythm once again without her presence. Going on with each day without Maya in his life, whether platonically or not, was always particularly jarring._

 _"You both are completely messed up." Farkle knocked back the rest of his drink with a smirk. "None of this would happen if you guys would just stop playing these twisted games with each other."_

 _"Twisted games?"_

 _"You're literally_ perfect _for each other and when you finally_ —finally— _date after years of being in denial and everyone knows you two are going to go the distance and just when we think you're going to get engaged and marry each other, Maya breaks things off. And then five years later, she asks you to help her have a child, which she could have had with you by now if she had just married you." Farkle snorted, shaking his head in mirth. "But nope, she doesn't want to get married. She apparently just wants your babies, which is strange not gonna lie. It's like she's using you. Which, for whatever reason, makes you happy."_

 _"And then you." Farkle continued, "You happily accept but only on the condition that you two do this thing the natural way which basically means you propositioned her Lucas."_

 _Lucas groaned, "I did, didn't I?"_

 _"And on top of that, not only did you proposition her, but you also told her that you still want to marry her despite her adamant refusals so now our plucky friend is not talking to you anymore. Good job. Riley and I are gone for six years and you two manage to make a total mess of your relationship._ Twice."

 _Lucas sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly. "Farkle. I don't even know what to do."_

 _"You should just move to a new city."_

 _"I'm serious."_

 _Farkle set down his drink, contemplating Lucas with sympathy in his eyes. He patted his shoulder consolingly._

 _"I know how much you love her, Lucas. And I know how much the break up messed you up. But if Maya doesn't want to talk, if she chooses to avoid you, if she's running away from the situation, there's honestly nothing you can do but wait. I'm sure she'll come around eventually."_

 _"I hope so…"_

* * *

Lucas groaned, snatching up his work bag as he left his truck, and headed past the lobby of his complex. He waved at the front deskman in greeting and made his way into the elevator. Lucas pushed the button for his floor and sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall.

Farkle was right. There was nothing he could do but wait for Maya to come around. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much each day he went with a lack of response from her made him feel like he had truly lost Maya, all he could do was wait.

He had sealed his fate when he decided to tell her the secret he'd been keeping for years.

The elevator doors opened on his floor, and Lucas walked out, heading down the hall towards his apartment. He wasn't really paying attention as he walked, a bit lost in the conflict that had taken over his life, but when he turned the corner of his hallway and focused his vision, he noticed there was someone anxiously pacing back and forth in front of his door.

A short, blonde someone who froze when she saw him.

Lucas wasn't sure how long he stood there, gaze locked with hers, holding his breath, but all he could think about was how despite having not had contact for only a handful of days, it felt like it had been an eternity. It was like a breath of fresh air to see Maya. He honestly had never been more happy and relieved to see her in his life. Lucas wasn't sure what the expression on his face was, but a light blush grew on Maya's cheeks, and she chewed her lower lip, nervously clutching the strap of her purse.

He took a few tentative steps towards her, carefully gauging Maya's reaction as he approached. He knew if he startled her, she would probably flee. But Maya watched him with apprehensive blue-gray eyes, waiting for him to reach her.

"You could have called." Lucas said, coming to a stop in front of her.

Maya stared up at him, her expression carefully guarded and revealing nothing.

"Lucas… We need to talk."

"I know."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Alright so I tried something new with this chapter! I didn't plan out the conversation this time. I just sat down and let my writing take itself wherever it wanted to go! Word vomit conversation! Hope it turned out alright! xD This fic started as one thing and turned into something completely different ahaha!  
**

 **And also, whoever the Guest is that continues to review on** **several chapters and** **every story telling me to do an M rated one, please stop harassing me. Smut takes a long time to write and you need to respect that I have a lot on my plate and don't have the time at the moment to work on those. I hope you'll take _my_ request into consideration.**

 **Thank you for the reviews! You all are so sweet and kind and I'm happy that this story is enjoyable for you! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas stood at his fridge, rummaging around to see if he had anything to offer Maya. After he'd let them in, he'd gone to the kitchen to try to postpone the conversation a bit. He wasn't _scared_ , per se, but he felt a little awkward about it all. He glanced over his shoulder into the living room where Maya was sitting stiffly on his sofa, twisting the bottom of her shirt in that way she'd developed a habit of doing whenever she was nervous.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Lucas asked. "I have some beer too."

"No." Maya's mouth was turned down in a frown as she stared at him. "Lucas. Stop stalling and come here."

He sighed, knowing the inevitable had to happen, so he might as well go out there and let the bandaid be ripped off. Maya watched him as he rounded his kitchen island and came over. He sat on the coffee table in front of her. She didn't look particularly annoyed or pissed off or hurt or like she was about to deliver a fatal blow, but he still felt anxious and his heart was beating a little erratically in his chest.

"In light of recent events and revelations, I feel we've both been a little rash so I had to think about a lot of things." Maya licked her lips nervously, breaking eye contact and staring at the ground. "I spoke to Riley on the phone, and she helped me figure some things out."

"And what did you figure out?"

"When I broke things off…" Maya grimaced, and he knew she was remembering the huge fight that followed. "I wasn't completely honest with you. And I think that's why we're having this problem right now. Two stupid adults who can't get their act together."

No doubt the two stupid adults quip was Riley's words. But Lucas was more concerned by what she had said right before that.

Lucas' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by you weren't completely honest with me?"

"Five years ago, Lucas." She took a deep breath. "I meant what I said that I was scared about how fast things were going for us, but the reason I didn't want to get married wasn't because of that. You know my mom. And you know how marriage and hell, _any_ relationship, doesn't work for her."

"So you were scared that things between us would fall apart because of your mom?"

"I thought I was going to become her. Lose one person after another. Drive them away. I didn't want us to fall apart like that."

That bothered Lucas. Hell, it pissed him off now even more than back then.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Lucas growled in annoyance. "You broke things off between _us_ because you thought our relationship would fall apart because _your mom_ had bad relationships?"

"You don't understand."

"Of course I don't!" Lucas snapped, "That's such utter bullshit I can't even begin to understand why you would ever think it makes sense!"

"Why the hell are you getting so mad about it?! It happened years ago." Maya shouted, "Try to see it from my point of view!"

Lucas shot to his feet, furious at her words. It may have happened years ago, but she damn well knew that it wasn't an event in their lives that could just be tossed aside and treated indifferently. It had _wrecked_ him.

"I'm mad because instead of telling me this years ago and letting me know how you felt and _trusting_ your damn boyfriend with your fears and letting me know why, you ripped my heart out and told me you couldn't marry me because you wouldn't ever be able to love me the way I love you! Do you know what that felt like to me? It felt like those four years we spent together, _the best years of my life_ , were trashed. Thrown out and ripped apart ruthlessly. Like it didn't even matter to you. Of course I'm still mad!"

Maya chewed on her lower lip as she watched him, her eyes growing a little glassy as her lower lip quivered. "Lucas, I'm sorry."

"And the worst part is it took you five years to tell me this even though you knew I was suffering the whole time. Five years of wondering what I did wrong. Five years of heartache spent wondering if our whole relationship was just a game to you. If it was all a lie. Five years of me holding on to a doomed love, hoping maybe one day we could reconcile and try again." He spat in disgust. "We were friends first. You couldn't even have the decency to at least care about that fact and tell me?! Even as a friend?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Look Lucas!" Maya yelled, her voice breaking, "I panicked okay! I got scared and wanted to run but I didn't know how to tell you. We were young, and I was stupid and you wouldn't take no for an answer without knowing why I couldn't marry you so I panicked! I wanted to be with you, but you were dead set on getting married and you all but gave me an ultimatum so I lied. And before I knew it, you'd walked out of my life and we didn't talk for two years, and I knew I wrecked the best thing that had ever happened to me."

Maya took in a sharp, shuddering breath.

"Just like my mom…" She whimpered, her shoulders shaking the slightest bit from her burgeoning sobs. "The very thing I was trying to avoid happened to me. I just wanted to be loved. Just once. For once, I wanted something of my own that couldn't leave me. And I lost it. Because _I_ was scared."

There were tears running down her cheeks, and though Lucas was angry at her, his heart tugged painfully in his chest as he watched Maya, her breathing jerky and body slightly curled into itself. And suddenly he was reminded of how damaged Maya was despite the strong face she would usually put on. How damaged and fragile and vulnerable she could be sometimes. He was reminded of the Maya from high school, torn apart by her father's rejection. Torn apart from the loss of her grandmother. Torn apart by one person who left after another. He could very clearly see that she'd never managed to heal the scars of her past.

And it killed him to see her this way. Maya's tears were his kryptonite. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, knowing he would never be able to stay mad at her, no matter how irritating she was.

And the worst part was he felt guilty.

This whole time, Maya had been fighting her inner demons on her own and even throughout their whole relationship, he'd never paid her the proper attention she deserved. He thought he'd known everything about Maya, but all this time, he wasn't as attentive a boyfriend as he should have been. He was brash and bull-headed and pushy and wouldn't listen to her. He'd forced the issue before she was ready to talk and she had fled and they'd both gotten hurt. No matter how adamant he had been in officially making Maya a Friar, Lucas shouldn't have pressed. He should have tried to better understand her instead of cornering her and forcing her. He knew that now.

"So what now then?" Lucas sank back down on the coffee table. "You tell me, because I have no idea what to even think anymore."

"Lucas, do you still love me even now? Now that you know everything? Despite everything I've wrecked?" she asked with a disgusted scoff at herself, "I'd be surprised if you did."

"You didn't wreck anything." Lucas stated with narrowed eyes, "And I told you, didn't I? I love you, Maya. And I'm not going to stop. I don't think I can. I just don't know where to go from here."

She nodded, chewing on her lower lip. "I don't think I can either."

Maya had said it quietly, almost a thin whisper leaving her lips, but Lucas caught the words. And honestly, it was enough for him.

"You still love me?"

"There… there may be some residual feelings. But," she quickly added when his lips curved up into a smile, "I still don't want to get married Lucas. And I need you to understand that if we're going to live together and make this whole dual parenting thing work. If you still want to have a child, I mean."

"I still want children with you Maya." Lucas sighed. "But I don't understand how if we're going to live together and raise a child together, how is that not basically marriage?"

"It's the principal of the thing." Maya finally said softly, "If we don't make it official, if you don't call me your wife, I don't feel the pressure. I won't want to run. I won't be terrified of making a mess of things."

Lucas could tell this was really bugging her. The idea that she could ruin their relationship. He knew if they were planning on continuing their relationship, then he would have to slowly help her realize that a marriage between them wouldn't fail. But for now, he would settle for this. If she wasn't comfortable with marrying him, he'd wait. It was his desired end goal, but until then, he had to take things slowly with Maya because she wasn't ready yet.

Lucas shifted to the sofa, sitting next to Maya and gently taking her hands in his.

"If it makes you feel better, then yes, I can do that. We can keep it unofficial. But Maya, I still want to marry you one day. Even if it takes years before you decide you're ready to be my wife. Is that okay?"

She searched his eyes for a moment, silently contemplating his offer before smiling slightly with a nod.

"It is."

"That's good to know."

"So this is happening? We're making a baby?"

"Yeah." Lucas smiled. "Let's make a baby."

"So…" Maya said, a little uncomfortably, "Should we just get to work then? Get started?"

Lucas frowned, feeling just as much discomfort as Maya was projecting on her face.

"It would be too awkward at this time."

Maya rose a brow. "Awkward how? We're going to have to at some point. Especially since you want to do this the natural way. So let's just shove it up in me and get it over with."

"I can't just stick it in you all randomly like that Maya." Lucas gave Maya an incredulous look, somewhat appalled by the way she'd just described it.

"Well you're going to have to eventually if we're going to be trying for a damn baby. So c'mon cowboy. Mount the horse."

Her inappropriate metaphor aside, Lucas wasn't sure he liked the way this was turning out. Yes, he'd always been sexually attracted to Maya, and he had no qualms being intimate with her. He wanted to. He really did. But not this way.

It just felt kind of wrong.

"Okay wait. Maya. Look, I know you want to hurry this up as soon as possible. And I also want you. I really do. I've been hoping for something like this for five years, but we just now cleared the air between us and finally figured out what went wrong." Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. "Even though I do love you, I feel like we need to slow this down a bit. Take some time to get reacquainted with each other. Get to know each other for real this time. I wouldn't feel right just hopping right into bed with each other. We need to start fresh."

Maya frowned, staring at him pensively. "What are you suggesting?"

"How about… I take you out. Tomorrow. And then we take it from there. See how it goes. I think it would make things a little less awkward than just ripping off each other's pants right now."

"Okay. I see your point." She snorted. "Yeah. That works."

"So tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow then." Maya stood up, picking up her purse from the ground and stretching her limbs. "I have a parent-teacher conference at five. Pick me up from my place at seven?"

Lucas nodded, standing up as well and walking her to the door. He felt better about this whole thing. Relieved. At peace. He wasn't exactly sure what he and Maya were at the moment, but Lucas was glad that at least the worst had been put behind them. That they'd finally closed out a particularly terrible chapter in both their lives. And he knew that they would work out the rest in time.

Maya put her hand on the knob, but paused, staring at the door for a few seconds. With a sigh, she turned around and faced Lucas.

"Lucas."

"Hmm?"

She rose to her tiptoes and reached up, cupping his jaw and pulling him down into a deep kiss. It took Lucas a little by surprise, a rush going through his body at the press of her lips on his. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him, his other hand sliding up her back and tangling in her short hair.

All of a sudden, it was like they were twenty again and just kissed for the first time, sparks dancing between their conjoined lips. It stirred up forgotten feelings of arousal and heat in him. It was familiar, a remembered dance where they were in perfect unison. He'd wanted to kiss her for the longest time. It felt right.

Maya pulled away slightly, sucking on his lower lip before letting it go slowly. Lucas groaned, already knowing he was reacting quite strongly to her. His thoughts were a little jumbled, his mind occupied with only thoughts of Maya's warm, tiny body pressed up against his.

"I love you too, you know?" She smiled against his lips, trying to catch her breath.

"I know, Shortstack."

Lucas knew Maya had never really been one to say those words because she had issues with the meaning behind it as well. But when she did, he knew she truly meant it with all her heart. And he knew he was lucky that she had said them to him.

He closed the gap between their lips, Maya moaning softly into his mouth and stirring him up. She dropped her purse to the floor, unclasping the buttons of his shirt as he backed her against the door. Lucas' hands trailed down her sides, shivers running through her body when his hands made contact with the skin of her waist. He grabbed the hem of her shirt in his fingers and they momentarily broke apart so Lucas could tug it up and off of her. He tossed it behind him, molding himself to her and capturing her lips again in a hot, open-mouthed kiss that told Lucas just where this was headed. He hoisted her up, and she hooked her legs around his waist, draping her arms over his shoulders and pulling him in more tightly to her.

"What about the date tomorrow?" Maya teased, her voice a little breathless.

"Screw the date." He growled.

He leaned in and kissed her again, meeting her lips in a heated kiss that left them both dizzy with want.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This story probably only has about four or so chapters left and an epilogue I suppose. LOL this turned out longer than I originally planned. And then probably a sequel oneshot I'll put in L &W most likely. I hope this ride has been fun for you guys ahahah xD  
**

 **Carito1988, I'm apologizing to you because I promised a Saturday update and it's two days late. I hope you can forgive me, love :3  
**

 **Thank you for the lovely reviews! It means a lot to me and I'm glad that this story has been interesting enough! You all are so sweet to me and it really makes my day to see the kind things you guys always say. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas kept drifting in and out of his slumber, stuck between his dream of mischievous blue-gray eyes and the fact that any minute now, his alarm would probably wake him up for work. But he kept his eyes shut, trying to hold on to the vestiges of his dream. He inhaled the lovely scent of vanilla from the tangled head of hair resting against his chest and wrapped his arms tighter around the warm body in front of him, his hand gently stroking the smooth naked skin.

"Huckleberry." Maya said groggily in front of him, leaning back into him with a pleased sigh.

He didn't respond, hoping to remain in this position for a little while longer. He had a feeling once they departed from their current satiated, fatigued state, this fantasy—this little bubble of pleasure they'd nestled themselves in—would pop.

Maya wrestled against his hold for a moment, turning around so she was facing him and entangling her legs with his under the quilt he'd covered them with. Gentle fingers lovingly cradled his face, and Lucas almost involuntarily leaned into her hand.

Maya chuckled softly. "I know you're awake, Lucas."

Lucas opened his eyes to Maya's half lidded, sleepy blue-gray gaze. And he was sure his heart almost imploded. There was just something so unbelievably profound and intense about waking up with Maya that set his heart on fire. He'd forgotten what it was like, waking up next to Maya, her face rosy and lips a bit plump and unable to find her bearings properly. After nights they spent together, she would always be a little disoriented. It was cute.

"Morning." He said as she yawned.

Lucas smiled, taking her hand in his and lacing his fingers through the spaces of her own. He placed a soft kiss to the back of her hand, relishing in the way her cheeks rouged at the action. She would always get flustered by his affectionate acts. It amused him that that hadn't changed even in the years they hadn't been together.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Maya asked, slightly embarrassed.

"I just never thought I would ever get the chance to wake up to you in my arms again."

Maya leaned forward and pressed her lips to his before pulling back and smiling tiredly.

"Feels like nothing's changed." Maya muttered, placing her palm on his chest above his rapidly beating heart. "Lucas, my back hurts…"

Lucas chuckled, pulling her warm body closer to him and glancing at the clothes scattered in various parts of his living room. He didn't blame her. They hadn't even made it to his bedroom the night before, and he couldn't imagine how uncomfortable being pressed onto the floor must have had to have been for Maya. That isn't to say he was _rough_ with her per se, but she liked it a certain way, and he wasn't one to hold back.

"You could have at least put me on the couch." She teased. "Do you have any control over yourself, Sundance?"

"Not when it pertains to you." Lucas muttered, trailing soft kisses down her neck and drawing a slight whimper from her lips.

Maya sighed in contentment, tugging him on top of her and splaying her hands on his back as he nipped her. She had always been her most easily affected in the morning when she woke up. She moaned softly when he bit down gently on the sensitive skin of her neck, threading the fingers of one hand into his hair and slightly gripping it in that way that told him she liked it.

She pulled his face up, their gazes meeting as Maya laughed softly, biting her lower lip as she gazed up at him. Lucas smiled, caressing her cheek softly before leaning down and kissing her. She almost melted in his arms, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and pressing her tongue into his mouth. He lowered himself onto her, settling in between her legs, his hand traveling down her side, reacquainting himself once again with her curves and her softness.

Lucas couldn't get enough of Maya. Her scent, her soft perfect plush body, the choked moans and little sighs she tried to conceal. It really amazed Lucas how he had managed to go through five years without her like this because he was certain he would never be able to again.

Not that he would ever give her a chance to run again anyway.

His phone began to ring, the ringtone blasting through the air, though he took no heed of it.

"Lucas…" she breathed against his lips.

"Hmm?"

Maya pulled slightly away, her face flushed and lips a bit swollen.

"Lucas…" she muttered again, sounding distracted and tilting her head as he dragged his lips to her neck again, sucking gently and nipping the overheated skin. "Your phone…"

"Ignore it." He said lowly, grinding his hips against her and loving the way her breath hitched in her chest. "It'll go away."

And it did after a while.

Until it started up again just as loud and just as annoying.

With a groan, he unlatched himself from her collarbone, rolling off of Maya and sitting up. He reached over and grabbed his discarded pants, taking his phone out of his pocket.

It was Emma.

With a frown, Lucas picked up the call.

"Emma?"

"Lucas. What the hell are you doing? Work started an hour and forty five minutes ago and you're still MIA. You're lucky you don't have any appointments until the afternoon, but I've been covering for your absence and you need to get your cute butt over here ASAP."

Shocked, Lucas glanced at the clock above his TV and noticed he really had slept well past the time he should have been at work. Beside him, Maya sat up, stretching out the kinks in her neck, arms, and back. Lucas couldn't help but watch her, enraptured by her naked form, his mind already conjuring images of what he could be doing right now.

"…I uh… overslept." He said, still distracted by Maya, who had noticed his stare and was giving him a come hither look, clearly inviting him to finish what they had started. "I'm sorry, Emma."

 _"You better be, Lucas. Because Amanda is dead set on usurping your spot as number one, and she's not really buying my excuses anymore so I've resorted to drastic measures. I had to tell her you had the runs. But that can only last so long so you better hurry up before I come up with something worse."_

"I understand. Thank you for covering. I'll be there soon."

He hung up, and Maya frowned in confusion.

"You'll be where soon?"

"Work. It's almost ten Maya."

Maya stared at him in disbelief for a moment. He could tell she was trying to figure out if he was joking or not, but after no revelation of a joke from him, she turned to glance at his clock. Her eyes widened in shock. She shot up off of the floor, running her hand through her hair worriedly before rushing around, scrambling to gather her clothes and slide them on.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit!" Maya exclaimed, snatching her phone out of her purse and grimacing when she saw the screen. "I missed a couple of my classes!"

Lucas stood up as well, pulling on his boxers hanging off of the sofa, watching as Maya hopped around, trying to text someone while frantically tugging on her boots.

"Do you need a ride back to your place to get a change of clothes?"

"No time." Maya looked down at herself with a snort. "My students are definitely going to know I slept with someone…"

"Right…"

And then they both quieted, standing in place and staring at each other. Maya opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, grimacing slightly when nothing came out. Lucas himself just didn't know what to say at all. See you later? Bye? What was the proper statement for this situation? Was she coming back to his place after work? Was he supposed to call her?

And Lucas could distinctly hear that bubble pop in the back of his mind.

He could just feel the awkward waves and tension between them as they stood silently.

They'd cleared the air, hadn't they?

So why did it feel like they'd just had a one night stand?

"Well… I've got to get to work. Thanks for the… I mean…" Maya said with a slightly awkward smile, grabbing her purse from the ground. "I'll uh… umm…"

"See me tonight?" Lucas supplied, if only to fill in _something_ in this suddenly very awkward situation.

"Yeah." Maya nodded slowly, though her brows were furrowed. "…I guess I'll come over…?"

"Right."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

They stared at each other for a few more moments of tense, uncomfortable silence, Maya still looking like she was trying to figure out how to say something. Lucas had to use every inch of his self-control to force himself from grimacing.

"Don't you have to get to–"

"Right. Work." Maya chuckled halfheartedly. "Okay. I'll uh… go."

She waved awkwardly before spinning on her heel and rushing out of his apartment.

When his door closed, Lucas groaned, sinking down on his couch and putting his head in his hands.

What the hell had just happened?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: One quick last little update because I'm taking a quick break from studying, and then I'm gone until Friday/Saturday! I swear on Friday after I get off work, I will respond to every PM and every review with gusto! :)  
**

 **Thank you for the reviews! You guys are so incredibly sweet and it means the world to me that you are taking a chance with my wacky story ahahah! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

"You got laid last night." Emma declared.

"What?" Lucas frowned, glancing at Emma over his shoulder as they continued their final rounds, checking on his patients' vital signs in the recovery room and making sure they were comfortable before Lucas and the vets would leave for the evening and the vet technicians and nurses would take over.

"I've been holding off on bringing it up all day, but you and Maya boinked, didn't you?" Emma repeated, eyes narrowed shrewdly as she stared at him. "That's why you 'overslept'."

He considered lying or denying it—because it was kind of inappropriate for her to know—but judging by her amused expression, he knew nothing he said could convince her otherwise. He just never understood how Emma was so perceptive about these things.

"How did you know?" Lucas sighed, absentmindedly letting Molly the Labrador lap at his fingers. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, aside from the fact that you aren't nearly as uptight as you were earlier this week, you've got a hickey on your neck under your collar." Emma's nose wrinkled. "Which is honestly kind of gross, not gonna lie. You're like thirty. You still give each other hickeys at your age?"

"Thirty's not old, Emma." He chuckled, rolling his eyes as he rearranged his collar to cover more of his neck.

He must not have noticed it when he was shaving. But really, he should have expected it. Maya had always been partial to leaving some kind of embarrassing mark on him. She used to like to say it kept the rabid women away from him.

"Still." Emma stooped, briefly making kissy faces at an orange kitten named Oliver with an injured paw. "That's a lot of biting. Is Maya an animal or something?"

"Well… yes." He admitted with a shrug.

"Gross." Emma stood with a groan in disgust. "Old people hooking up."

Lucas rolled his eyes in amusement as he finished writing up the condition of his patients prior to leaving. Emma came up next to him, waiting patiently as he finished filling out the information for various patients. When he had completed the last one, he handed her the files, and they made their way out.

"Goodnight guys." He called out to the animals in the room before dimming the lights and heading out with Emma.

"So? How was it?" Emma asked after they'd turned the corner towards the offices.

"I'm not going to talk to you about my sex life, Emma." Lucas deadpanned, removing the stethoscope from around his neck and tucking it into his lab coat pocket.

"No wait. That came out wrong, _al_ _though_ I am curious what it's like to spend the night rolling in the hay with Lucas Frickin' Friar, the most desirable man in Greenwich Village." Emma laughed as Lucas gave her a weird look. "What I meant was is everything settled with you guys? Has everything been cleared? You know? About the whole baby thing? I would assume so since you guys porked."

Lucas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I thought it had been. She agreed with the whole living together thing and to having a baby the natural way, and we talked about the break up and cleared the air. But after we departed this morning, it was just so _awkward_. Considering all we talked about and figured out about what happened in the past, I thought we would be okay. I don't know how to explain it, but something was off. After she left, I felt like we rushed things a little. It honestly felt like a one night stand."

Emma frowned. "Well did you talk about your future as a couple?"

"…Not really, I guess." Lucas unlocked his office and they walked in, Emma heading to the file cabinet to store the files in their proper place. "I mean, we both still love each other though. I mentioned I still wanted to marry her, and she told me she wasn't comfortable with it so we decided to keep it unofficial."

"Oh Lucas. For someone so very, very smart, you are so very, very clueless. You know why it was awkward?" Emma sighed, shaking her head and tsking. "It wasn't because you rushed things. In fact, you guys made up quite adequately if you ask me. But that's just it. You _made up_. From things from the past. The issue you're having now is because you guys still haven't properly communicated. Yes, feelings are there, but you discussed the past and mended the mistakes of the past, and you didn't actually talk about where you guys were supposed to go from there. It was awkward because you guys haven't explicitly made yourselves a couple again. You haven't made it official that you're in a relationship. So when you guys hopped to churning butter, both your motivations were undefined, leading to a misunderstanding of _why_ you guys hooked up and then _bam_! One night stand level of awkwardness."

She closed the file cabinet and walked back over to Lucas' desk with a smirk.

"I can almost guarantee you I know what might have been going through Maya's mind. I bet you she was thinking you only want to be together because you want to make a baby, but not because you want to be her boyfriend. Which isn't something to fault yourself for either. Your mindset is still stuck on marrying Maya in the future, so you still see her as a _wife_ regardless of the circumstances of your relationship right now. And that's why you probably never brought up rekindling your boyfriend and girlfriend status, which is _Maya's_ mindset of what you are. And from what you told me about how insecure she is at times, not having specific definitions of what you want for your relationship now that all your past mess has been cleared up probably made her feel a little hesitant and uncomfortable. And deep down, you probably felt awkward too because you still hadn't figured everything out yet."

Lucas stared at her, his jaw partially unhinged as her words sunk in. She was right. She was completely and totally right. Because he _had_ said they could keep marriage off the table, and he remembered mentioning a fresh start, but they hadn't really defined what they were. And from Maya's perspective, starting fresh could have meant any number of things. And _that_ had only gotten more jumbled by the fact that they slept together, contradicting what he had said entirely about taking it more slowly. It was no wonder they had gotten so awkward. They didn't know what they were and sleeping together made that even more confusing.

"What?" Emma said in alarm after he stared at her silently for a while. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're a genius, Emma?"

"Nah. I'm just good at understanding the human psyche." She grinned, pulling her phone out of her tote bag and tapping the screen a few times before lifting it so it was facing Lucas. "But could you say that again, so I can brag to Ava that I got a compliment from you?"

Lucas rolled his eyes in fake exasperation. "You're a genius, Emma."

"Hell yeah! Damn right I am! Hear that Ava, I got called a genius by Lucas! Hah!" She tapped on the screen and then set her phone back into her bag. "Lucas, everything is fine between you two. You just need to _communicate_ if you want your relationship to work. I mean damn. You both are completely clueless. You're literally taking relationship advice from your twenty-three year old intern, Lucas."

Lucas chuckled, removing his lab coat and setting it on the coat hanger beside his door. "I am clueless, aren't I? I can't help but feel like I'm going to screw this up again though."

"Just relax." Emma said sympathetically, tugging her jacket on. "She's your best friend. You can't go wrong. And even if things fall apart again—which they shouldn't and won't unless you really screw something up which is practically impossible by this point—at least you'll still have your friendship to fall back on."

"Yeah." Lucas said, picking up his bag from the floor and setting it on his desk before beginning to put some paperwork and other things he needed in there.

"Oooh also, just wanted to remind you that the chances of her getting pregnant on your first try are extremely low. If you want to have that baby, it'll take a lot more shots. My mom didn't get pregnant with me until after seven months of trying and she said the process got pretty daunting after a while, but when they didn't think about it and went at in a parking lot, it just happened." Emma said enthusiastically, "So don't think about it too much or the little swimmers in your love custard will feel too much pressure and drown in Maya's acidic cave of wonders before they reach Planet Ovum."

He paused in arranging his desk to a semblance of order, staring at her, appalled by the extended euphemism.

How the hell did she come up with this stuff?

"…Emma, that's inappropriate." Lucas finally said.

"Since when has that stopped me from saying whatever I want anyway?" She smirked, tossing her bag on her shoulder and heading towards the office door. "What I'm trying to say is, just have fun with your best friend. Make her dinner or something. Watch a movie. Cuddle. Snuggle under a blanket. Talk about your lives. I know things are kind of a little bit weird between you guys right now, but if you let it stress you out, you won't succeed in your relationship or your… _fertilization and conception efforts_. So just enjoy your time together okay?"

"Thank you, Emma." Lucas smiled. "For everything."

"Hey, you're like the best and most attractive boss I've ever had. When you're happy, I'm happy. And I just want you to be happy."

"That means a lot." He checked his watch. "Now get going. You have a grad course in twenty minutes don't you?"

"Shoot! That's right!"

Lucas chuckled as she rushed out the door.

"You better not be late tomorrow!" She called out as she hurried down the hallway to catch her subway.

Emma was right. Maya was his best friend. There was no reason that this thing shouldn't work out.

He picked up his phone and texted Maya.

 **Hey. How do you feel about a shortstack of pancakes for dinner?**

Her response came fairly quickly.

 _Har har Huckleberry. Do you mean me…? or actual pancakes? Because I was honestly more in the mood for Italian. Pasta sounds really good. Homemade._

 **I can make that happen.**

 _You'll actually make me dinner?_

 **If you still feel like coming over. I have something I need to say.**

There was no response for about a minute, and Lucas wondered if he had scared her off with his words. He didn't think they were particularly nervewracking, but then again, people tended to interpret text messages quite differently.

But she finally responded.

 _Throw in some garlic bread and white wine, and I'll be there._

He smiled.

 **Done.**

Lucas slung his bag over one shoulder and grabbed his jacket as he left, closing and locking up his office.

He was going to fix them. For good.

And he had a feeling that this time, they would last.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: More fluffiness...  
**

 **I appreciate the lovely reviews you guys! Thank you for being so nice and kind! It means the world! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas uncorked the white wine, setting it down on his table and looking at what he'd set up. His mom's fancy china, the dimmed lights, the candles, the soft music in the background. He couldn't lie. He knew he had gone overboard, but he couldn't help it. He had been feeling a bit nervous and had wanted to make this somewhat perfect.

Lucas knew Maya had some parent-teacher conferences that would keep her until probably seven or eight, so as soon as he had gotten home from the grocery store, he had immediately set to cleaning up his apartment, making sure it was spotless and immaculately cleaned.

After that, he'd cooked up a storm, making garlic bread from scratch. As for the pasta, he'd gone all out and made some penne with roasted squash, asparagus, sausage, and sun dried tomatoes. It had always been one of Maya's favourites when they used to date.

By the time he had finished, it was just past 7:20, and he figured he had time to kill, so he'd decorated the table a little. But he'd clearly gotten carried away, seeing as how it now looked like some kind of restaurant arrangement, but at this rate, he didn't think that he had much time to change it seeing as how it was almost eight.

And he was right.

His doorbell rang, and Lucas knew it was Maya.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over and opened the door to Maya smiling up at him, though she looked a little stiff. She was wearing a long black peacoat, her librarian glasses still perched on her face. Lucas couldn't help but smile at that. Maya looked cute in her glasses, but she tended to get embarrassed when people saw them, so she tried not to wear them in public. She must have forgotten to take them off after the meetings.

"Sorry. I meant to get here earlier, but I went home quickly to change."

"Right."

They stood there in silence for a bit, just staring at each other.

Maya rose a brow. "Are you going to let me in?"

"R-right." Lucas said, stepping aside and rubbing the back of his neck.

He felt like he was a teenager again, fumbling through the motions of a date, messing up everything on the checklist of a good first impression. It seemed like his old habits were really hard to break, though he did suspect that it was only because it was _Maya,_ and he absolutely felt he couldn't mess up, regardless of whether or not they were best friends. He was still in love with her. Still though. He didn't know why he felt so nervous all of a sudden. It wasn't like this was the first date they'd ever had.

Except that it kind of was, technically. The first after a terrible breakup and five years of not being romantically involved. There was a lot of pressure.

Lucas closed his door as Maya walked in and removed her peacoat, setting it on his coat rack next to the door. She turned around and glanced around his apartment, her jaw promptly dropping in shock.

"You didn't have to go all out, you dork!"

Lucas stared at Maya in surprise.

"What about you?" He remarked. "You're wearing your fancy dress."

A red, form fitting, alluring dress Lucas knew Maya bought last year and reserved for special occasion nights. One that he had also dreamed about once.

Hanging from his ceiling fan, that is.

Maya pulled off her glasses, tossing them on his kitchen counter, her cheeks painted with a slight blush.

"Shut up! It's not like I could wear the same clothes from yesterday so I changed."

"Into your fanciest dress?"

"You are so one to talk. You lit candles, and you're playing classical music, Lucas."

They stared at each other for a moment, small amused smiles on their lips. Maya broke first, dissolving into laughter and shortly after, Lucas joined in, wondering what the hell was wrong with them.

"We're so stupid." Maya chuckled, hopping up on one of his kitchen stools.

"I know…" Lucas said, leaning against the counter, slightly in front of her. "Hey. When I asked you to come over again this morning, I didn't want you to come over just for sex, you know."

Maya looked down at her lap. "Then why?"

"Maya, I know I always say I want you to be my wife, but since that's not an option right now, I'm fine with just being your boyfriend." Lucas smiled when she lifted her gaze and met his. "I know things got a little awkward, but I think I should make that clear. I _want_ a relationship with you again, Maya. I don't want us to only be together when we're trying for our baby. I want us to be a real couple. Do couple things like we used to. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah." Maya grinned playfully, "So what you're saying is that you want to have regularly available sex, but put in even more effort screwing when I'm ovulating. That kind of thing."

Lucas rolled his eyes in fake annoyance. "Sure. If you want to think about it that way."

Maya hopped off the stool, stepping up to Lucas and wrapping her hand around his tie. She tugged him down, and he went willingly, meeting her lips in a gentle kiss. He slid his arms around her, pulling her closer to him as they kissed, slow and easy and comfortable, not one ounce of awkwardness remaining.

Maya smiled as she pulled away, biting her lower lip a bit bashfully.

"Thank you for making it clear for me." She wrapped her arms around his torso, resting her chin on his chest as she smiled up at him. "Anyway, I came here for free food. Not some cowboy talking up a storm. So. What did you make?"

"Your favourite."

Maya's brows rose in surprise. "The penne with the squash and shit?"

"Yeah." Lucas grinned, loving the excited twinkle in Maya's eyes.

"Lucas Huckleberry Friar. Are you using your really attractive domestic skills to try to lure me into your bed?"

"Maybe…" Lucas teased, leaning down and placing a soft kiss to her puckered lips.

"…How was I able to go without you for five years?" Maya murmured when he pulled away.

"I don't know."

"We were really stupid, weren't we?" She asked him. "Lucas… I want to know. When did you know I was the one you wanted to marry?"

"You want the honest answer or the one that's less creepy?"

"What?" Her eyes widened the slightest bit. "Honest answer."

"The summer before we started college. It was the first night you crashed in my room because Riley was on vacation, and we spent the entire night cuddled up in my bed talking about our hopes for the future." Lucas explained, smiling at the memory. "In the morning, I opened my eyes and you were still sleeping and you just looked so peaceful and beautiful. And then you woke up and smiled and said 'Quit staring at me, Huckleberry. You're being a creep' and it was the most perfect moment to me. I had this epiphany. I knew I fell in love with you. And I just knew that I wanted to wake up next to you for the rest of my life."

Maya was gazing up at him, regarding him silently for several long moments, her breathing a little harsher than it was before. Her eyes were hazy in the dimmed light, and Lucas realized he recognized the darkened look in her eyes.

"Lucas… I know you worked really hard on dinner," she said, fire dancing in her heated gaze, "But I kind of need you to screw me as hard as you can. Right. Now."

He smirked.

"I think that can be arranged."

Lucas bent down and scooped Maya off of her feet, carrying her bridal style down the hallway towards his bedroom, Maya laughing aloud.

It looked like his dreams of her dress on his ceiling fan were going to come true after all.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This gets a little racy, but this is as high as it's going to go :)  
**

 **Thank you for all the sweet words guys! You're so kind and it means a lot to me! Thank you for always being so supportive and wonderful. I appreciate it very much! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas climbed the stairs of his apartment complex, cracking his neck to loosen up the kinks and then running his hand through his hair with a sigh. Work had been difficult that day. He'd had to inform the owner of a sweet, but fairly old beagle of his status and how much pain he was in. Some tough choices had to be made, and the appointment had ended with tears. Even Emma, who usually could keep her emotions in check, was bawling and he'd let her go back to his office to calm down because she'd been particularly attached to Reggie when he had been convalescing in the ICU.

It was honestly one of the hardest parts of his job, and he sincerely hoped that maybe Maya had some good news or something to get his spirits up.

In addition to that, he was also fairly exhausted. For some reason, a bunch of people had been bringing in pets for the same thing: it seemed like a bout of food poisoning was hitting the city. He'd had to make a few calls to grocery stores and other companies to investigate a brand of pet food that he suspected might have to be recalled. The whole day put together had just about drained Lucas.

All he wanted to do was crawl into bed and hold his little shortstack of pancakes.

He figured she would be home by this time. It'd been about two weeks and a half since she officially moved back in with him (to Riley's absolute spazzing. She nearly killed his ear with her excited squeals when she called him). They had spent a lot of that time moving her stuff back in and refurnishing his home and since then, they'd developed a rhythm again living together.

Maya, provided she didn't have a board of education meeting, conferences with parents, or faculty meetings, tended to come home before him and would make dinner on occasion if she felt like it. When she didn't feel like it, she would usually draw up a bubble bath and try to drag him in with her through seduction tactics but only on the condition that he made dinner (which in his defense was a very hard offer to resist when Maya was standing stark naked in the middle of the bathroom). In the evenings, they would sometimes spend their time cuddling on the couch, watching movies or just talking. Or in their bedroom.

But Maya had been on her cycle up until about a handful of days ago, so they'd spent most of their time going on dates reminiscent of their first ones, commemorating the rebirth of their relationship by visiting all the important places in their past.

It was nice. Lucas loved being able to be with Maya like this, and it made him happy. He couldn't imagine living life any other way or with anyone else other than Maya. He was really looking forward to their future.

Lucas unlocked his apartment door, loosening his tie and tossing his bag on the couch. He peered around the room, noting that the lights were off. Usually, Maya kept the lights on in the foyer so he could see where she'd left her shoes haphazardly lying around and wouldn't trip over them. But all lights were off.

"Maya?" he called out into the apartment.

There was no response.

Confused, he walked to the hallway, checking inside the bathroom to see if maybe she was enjoying herself a bath, but the lights were also off. He walked slowly towards the bedroom, brows furrowed in concern by Maya's absence. As he approached their bedroom door, he distinctly smelled what he was sure was jasmine.

"Maya?"

He opened the door, walking in in slight confusion.

The room was illuminated solely be several scented candles arranged all over the furniture, casting this ethereal, sensual glow around the room.

His mouth went dry, his blood running south almost immediately.

Because Maya was sitting on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, hands resting on her knees with a come hither, sultry look on her face.

Wearing nothing but a skimpy light blue semi sheer baby doll nightie and a lacy matching set of panties clinging to her sexy curves in a way that left little to the imagination.

Lucas knew his mind was short-circuiting, having trouble coming to terms with what he was seeing.

"Hey there, Sheriff Two-Step. I've been a naughty girl. Punish me?" Maya purred with a saucy wink. "And by punish, I mean knock me up because that clock is ticking, and I'm fertile as hell right now and this baby's not going to make itself so it's time to get to work."

And then his heart almost stopped.

But it wasn't because of Maya being scantily clothed, though don't get him wrong, he was _plenty_ aroused from that image alone.

It was because of what was on the ring finger of her left hand.

His grandmother's ring.

The one he proposed to Maya with five years ago.

He had still kept it in his apartment despite thinking he would never get the chance to use it. Maya must have found it somehow. Lucas swallowed thickly, walking up to Maya, and slowly lifted up her hand, staring at it.

"Maya… You're wearing my ring."

A slight blush painted her cheeks rosy red, and she glanced away from him for a second, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Don't mistake this, Huckleberry." She murmured, looking anywhere but at him, "This isn't a sign I want to get married. It's a beautiful ring, and you've kept it all these years despite how much pain it caused you. And since it was meant to go on my finger anyway, I figured I might as well just wear it. You know, also so more guys stop hitting on me."

He couldn't think of anything to say. His mind was drawing a blank as he stared at her. He was happy. So very happy seeing Maya wearing the ring that his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He had never realized just how desperately his subconscious had wanted Maya to wear the ring. Seeing it on her was a dream come true.

Seeing her in the nightie and wearing his ring roused him like nothing else ever had before.

"Lucas. Say something." she said in exasperation, "Stop staring at me like—"

He cut her off, yanking her up by her arms and stealing her words with an ardent, hard kiss, wrapping his arms around her body and crushing her to him. Maya whimpered into his mouth, clinging to his arms as he poured into the kiss every ounce of his love for her. His tongue found hers, twining with hers as he slid his hands to her ass, pressing himself against her, loving her soft, choked gasp. She tugged his shirt out of his pants, pulling sharply on the buttons, popping them, breaking them and tearing open his shirt.

Maya was intoxicating, making him almost delirious with want.

God, he loved her so much.

He pulled away slowly, gently sucking her lower lip before letting it go. Maya struggled to catch her breath, her face completely flushed and red lips plush and swollen. Lucas wanted to put a permanent flush on her face.

She was gazing up at him with her 'fuck me' eyes, and Lucas honestly could think of nothing he would rather do. Without a word, he picked her up, tossing her unceremoniously onto the bed to her giggles, before climbing on and crawling over her.

Lucas lowered himself onto her, reclaiming her lips in a slow, steamy kiss, running his hand along the silky smooth skin of her leg. Maya arched into him, sliding a hand into his hair as she hooked her leg around him, pulling him closer. A ragged moan fell from lips as he trailed kisses to her neck, sucking on the overheated skin as he slowly ground himself against her.

The heat coming from her was almost heavenly, and he had to pause for a moment, lifting his gaze and meeting Maya's when they both shuddered from the intensity.

Maya smiled flirtatiously, tugging him down and bringing her lips to his ears.

"Impregnate me, Lucas Friar." She whispered.

Lucas smirked.

"With pleasure, Maya Hart."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This chapter is pure fluff. So sugary and fluffy that you guys will need to brush your teeth after reading it or you'll get cavities.  
**

 **Credit for the name goes to Hasty Hastings! :)**

 **Thank you for all the support guys! I appreciate the reviews and all the wonderful things you guys have said! You are all so kindhearted and it means so much to me to have your support. Thank you very much! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

"Hey Huckleberry. Look! We have to get this!"

Lucas walked up next to Maya who was pointing at the top shelf of the aisle of baby food. It was a can of mashed huckleberries mixed with peas and some other atrocity that had Lucas near cringing in shock.

"Oh wow. How funny." Lucas deadpanned, chuckling beside Maya. "But you know we're not anywhere near the point of buying baby food, right?"

Maya sighed, rubbing her abdomen as she had taken to doing so for the past two weeks since she found out she was pregnant.

"Urgh… I know. I just want the baby to come already. I want to have that pregnancy belly."

Lucas shook his head in amusement, leaning down and planting a soft kiss on her head, "You will. Eventually. But one step at a time. We need to buy what we _know_ we need for now. We've still got nine months before semantics come into play."

"Lucas, look! They're so cute!"

But Maya wasn't listening and grabbed his hand, tugging him excitedly to the clothes area across the median where all sorts of baby's clothing and accessories littered the area. Lucas was actually pretty impressed. They had a pretty wide assortment of different styles of clothing for babies in the super store. Everything from bodysuits and rampers to themed set pieces complete little hats.

Maya picked up a small princess dress with lots of frills, squealing slightly.

"Look how small it is." She smiled at him. "We have to get it, Lucas."

Lucas walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head. "That's assuming we have a girl."

"Well if it's one fourth for two and one half for one, doesn't that mean that the chances of having a girl are three fourths given that they're fraternal?"

"But what if they're both boys? And if you include identical probability, it's all about one third for any of the three possibilities."

"I know my babies." Maya said with a grin, "One of them is a girl. I feel it."

"If you're sure." Lucas chuckled, leaning down and pulling Maya closer to him, nuzzling her neck and peppering soft kisses along her skin that made Maya squirm slightly.

"Lucas…" She let out a little breathy sigh when he gently bit down on the shell of her ear. "We're in a public place…"

Maya got a little shy about PDA at times, but Lucas honestly couldn't help it. He couldn't keep his hands off of her. How did she expect him to? He didn't know what it was, but every time he was near Maya, he just felt such a pull to her. He didn't know if it had to do with her pregnancy or not, but if he'd thought he couldn't get enough of her before, now he absolutely knew he was a mess without her.

"Are you trying to tell me I should let go of you?" He muttered in her ear, trailing his hands further up, just under her chest. "Is that what you want?"

She shuttered slightly, closing her eyes momentarily, but then she took his hands, peeling them off of her, and shot him a raised brow.

"Stop trying to seduce me in a store. It won't work. Now c'mon. Let's go look at cribs!"

Maya started to walk away and move on, but Lucas wouldn't let her go, tugging her back by the wrist and pulling her so that she stumbled into him, her hands on his chest as she stared up at him wide eyed, caught off guard by his actions. Maya's cheeks were painted with a light blush, and Lucas had to fight to restrain himself from really being inappropriate right there in the store.

"Who said anything about seducing you?" Lucas said with a smirk, sliding his arms around her lower back and holding her tightly to him, "I just wanted to kiss you a little."

"It's not appropriate." Maya murmured, looking past him to check to see if anyone was around them.

But she made no efforts to escape his clutches.

Lucas brought one hand up and gently turned Maya's chin so she was looking at him again. Maya's eyes had a dream-like haze to them as she gazed up at him, slightly playing with one of the buttons of his shirt. When he was sure he had her undivided attention, he leaned down slowly and gave her a soft peck on her nose.

Lucas pulled away with a teasing grin. "See? Just a little kiss."

Maya's face settled into an annoyed frown. She looked put off.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked playfully, knowing full well what she had been anticipating. He loved messing with Maya. "You look upset."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I was expecting a real kiss, Lucas."

"Were you now?" Lucas rose a brow, gently rubbing Maya's back and loving the way her eyelids fluttered for a second. No doubt she was getting turned on. It tended to happen a lot for the simplest touches. "So then you admit to your reservations about PDA being false?"

"I admit to nothing but wanting to be kissed." She said stubbornly, her lips set in something of a small pout, "You're twisting my words."

But she leaned into him, smiling up at him blissfully. Lucas wasn't sure his heart could be more elated. Honestly, Maya had such a strong grip on his heart that he wasn't sure where he would be or who he would be now if he hadn't met her in their youth. She'd given him everything he could ever want and hope and dream for in his life and more through her companionship, through her love for him. She was giving him the family he'd always wanted with her. She was spending her life with him despite all of his many shortcomings. He knew so many people spent their entire lives searching for but never finding their true love—their soulmates—but he was lucky to have found his when she'd confused the crap out of him on a crowded subway when he'd first moved to New York.

Lucas reached up, brushing some stray hairs on her face away, gently tucking them behind her ear. His hand lingered on her face, sliding down to cup her cheek, gently caressing it with his thumb as he gazed down at her. Maya Hart. The absolute love of his life. Maya leaned into his touch, her stormy blue-gray gaze softening as she searched his eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked softly.

"How much I love you, Maya. You're everything to me."

They'd come a long way. Despite ruining their relationship. And then almost ruining it again after they'd managed to reunite. And then almost ruining it _again_ , but overcoming their issues and finally becoming the couple that all their friends had believed and known they could be.

Maya covered his hand with hers, smiling affectionately up at him.

"I love you too, Lucas."

Lucas smiled as well, leaning down as Maya tilted her head up, her eyes half-lidded.

"Oh my. I'm sorry!"

Maya snapped her gaze to the woman beside them, her cheeks almost immediately flushing in embarrassment. She pushed against Lucas' chest, but he tightened his hold around her, not giving her a chance to escape. They could still salvage the moment.

"It's no problem, ma'am." Lucas responded politely, nodding at the woman.

"Yeah, so we should continue our shopping." Maya said shooting him a warning look. "And you should let go of me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrupt your moment." The older woman stated, "Just trying to pass through really quickly."

"Don't mind us." Maya smiled, prying herself out of Lucas' arms who was a little put off by the lack of warmth from her tiny body. "We're sorry you had to see that."

"Oh it's no bother at all. I don't mean to pry, but if you don't mind me asking, are you expecting?"

"I am." Maya smiled, absolute joy on her face as she placed her hand on her abdomen. "Eight weeks in. We're having twins."

Maya loved gushing about her pregnancy. It always made Lucas smile to see her so happy. He was glad that he was able to make Maya happy. After all, that was all he'd ever wanted for her. Anything he could do to give that to her, he'd do it.

"Awwww." The lady cooed, placing a hand on her heart. "Well I'm sure you and your husband will make wonderful parents. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

The woman walked on, heading on her way out of the clothing section. As soon as she had disappeared, Lucas leaned down, playfully smiling as he wrapped his arm back around Maya and pulled her to him.

"You hear that?" Lucas teased. "She called me your _husband_."

Maya rose a brow. "Careful Huckleberry. If you keep bugging me I won't give you any priviledges as my _boyfriend_ even. That means closed season on my 'cave of wonders'."

His eyes narrowed. That sounded way too familiar.

"Cave of won… ders…?" And then Lucas groaned, remembering when he had heard that. It had been a while since that conversation—months—but he remembered it. And he remembered who had said it. "I take it you and Emma had a good, long chat?"

Maya shrugged innocently, blinking up at Lucas in a way that told him she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, she did stay at our place to keep me company when you were gone last week."

Lucas had gone on a week long trip to Texas for the wake of a distant relative he didn't particularly know, but it was expected for him to be there. Maya would have gone with him as well, but she had been suffering from spotting and slight bleeding and nausea that made her utterly too sick to even consider hopping on a plane and going to any events. Lucas had desperately wanted to stay and take care of Maya during her bout of suffering, but she refused to let him do that to his family and just not show up, so Emma had volunteered to babysit Maya during that turbulent time. He hadn't realized just how much of a danger it was to let his little intern and Maya spend time together. The both of them were privy to information about him that wouldn't bode well for him if they crossed paths.

"What exactly did you guys talk about?" Lucas' eyes narrowed. "Anything I should know?"

"Well. She did sniff all your shirts. And she put on one of your jackets. Wanted to know what it was like to get a hug from Lucas _Smexy Pants Sweet Ass_ Friar. And…" Maya grinned a bit deviously, trailing her finger in a random pattern on his chest. "She told me about _Gladys_ and how Gladys wants to have your kids. And asked you multiple times."

Lucas groaned again, wanting so badly to bash his head into the wall. That was the last time he would ever let Maya and Emma hang out alone. It was too dangerous.

"Why didn't you tell me about her?"

"Maya. It's embarrassing."

Maya started laughing hard. "She says she's fertile too, Lucas. Aren't you going to capitulate on that opportunity?"

" _No_." Lucas rolled his eyes when Maya started laughing harder.

Gladys was the sixty five year old owner of a quite vicious cat named Princess. She was particularly… _open_ with Lucas. Often telling him her egg count and when she was the most fertile and asking him to allow her to bear his children.

"What else did you guys talk about?"

"Just how much you talk about me at work and how much you _love_ me." Maya singsonged. "She told me you cried when I called you to tell you I was finally pregnant."

"Of course I cried, Maya. It took us six months."

Six months of frequent, constant sex every other day and Maya's unbelievable stamina and almost crazy determination. They'd had a false alarm during the third month when Maya vomited, but then they'd found out it was just a stomach virus. Which Lucas unfortunately caught. It put them both out of commission and when they were both better, they had jumped right back into it in restaurant bathrooms, in his car, all over their apartment in various positions. They'd redefined what "screw like rabbits" meant in all their time trying. And Maya had been relentless, even waking him up at 3 AM once because according to her fertility charting, it was the perfect time for them to try to conceive. There was also the time she'd shown up at his office during lunch with her eyes on fire, booted Emma out, locked the door, and Lucas was pretty sure he'd actually reached nirvana that day.

Don't get him wrong. Lucas _really_ appreciated all the extra sex, especially when they got particularly creative, but it had been a lot of work. There were times when he just wanted to cuddle after work, but Maya would be ready and rearing to go, and he'd have to put aside his fatigue until Maya was satisfied with their attempts for the day. Finally receiving news that Maya was pregnant after those six months of intense work made him feel not only relief, but such extreme happiness he couldn't help it: he had cried tears of relief and joy. And then finding out they were having multiples at the appointment had really thrown him for a loop.

"And I thank you for your hard work." Maya leaned up on her tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "As a reward for your tireless efforts to get me pregnant, we won't have sex for the next nine months."

He frowned, staring at Maya in shock, but she was biting her lower lip, clearly trying to hold back laughter, and Lucas let out a mental sigh of relief.

"Har har… You're hilarious, Shortstack."

Maya laughed, spinning out of his grasp and looking at some of the cowboy themed baby clothes with an amused grin on her face. Lucas made a mental note to himself to not let Maya come here alone because he had a feeling she'd be buying many of those adorable little cowboy outfits for sure.

"Oh! I just thought of one name for a girl." Maya straightened, turning to Lucas with a smile. "Katia."

"I like it." Lucas said with a smile, "Okay, so Katia Pancake Hart-Friar it is."

Maya gave him an incredulous look. "We're not naming our daughter Pancake."

"Fine." Lucas shrugged, pulling Maya to him by the hips with a grin. "Katia _Shortstack_ Hart-Friar, then. Happy?"

"Stop! You're annoying!" Maya laughed, lightly pinching his arm.

"Alright. So now we need to think of one more girl's name and two boy's names."

"Oh don't worry about the boys. That's an easy one." Maya grinned. "Rick and Roy. Or better yet. Rick Huckleberry Hart-Friar and Roy Hopalong Hart-Friar."

Lucas rose a brow in amusement. "Touché."

"I think I win."

"I think you do, Shortstack…" Lucas muttered, his hold on her tightening the slightest bit.

Maya rested her hands on his arms, her smile turning a little flirtatious.

"What do I win?"

"I was thinking something like this."

Lucas leaned down, capturing Maya's lips in a long, deep kiss, sliding his arms around her, his hands resting just above her ass. He kissed her slowly, provocatively, coaxing a soft groan from her lips. Maya's flushed cheeks and shallow pants as she caught her breath when he pulled away stirred him up. So much so that he had only one thing on the brain. And judging by the way she was looking at him too, she had the exact same thoughts in mind.

"Lucas, we need to go back to the car. Like _now_."

"It's like you read my mind."

Lucas laughed, slipping his hand into Maya's and lacing their fingers as they made their way towards the front of the store, their hands swinging in time with their steps.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: There was subtle foreshadowing in the last chapter to this one that no one noticed :/ So umm... yeah. I'm sowwy. I think this was always an angst story, but I accidentally led you guys on into thinking it wasn't. Anyway, rest assured, this is the last of the angst!  
**

 **Also the past three ish chapters plus this one and the next few were all supposed to be in the epilogue, but I cut it up and decided to extend the story a little bit more, because idk. I just do a lot of things that I don't understand lol.**

 **I really appreciate all of you guys for being so sweet. Thank you so much for always being supportive and kindhearted. It means so much to me and I hope that you all are happy and satisfied! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas turned into the parking spot of their apartment, glancing at Maya in concern. Maya was staring resolutely out the window, her facial expression hidden from him. She was clutching onto herself, hunched in the passenger seat, her body curled in on itself the slightest bit.

"Maya. We're home."

She didn't respond, the only sign that she had even heard him in the first place a minute tightening of her grip on the sleeve of her sweater.

"I'm need a nap." She mumbled.

"Don't you want to talk about—"

"I don't want to talk. I'm just tired."

"Maya—"

"I'm fine." She snapped.

Maya climbed out of his car and slammed the door shut, heading inside without a backwards glance. Lucas sighed, leaning back against the head rest and momentarily closing his eyes.

She wasn't fine.

He wasn't fine.

They both weren't fine.

* * *

 _"What do you mean gone?" Maya asked quietly, her voice wavering as she stared at their OB. "How can a heartbeat just disappear?"_

 _"Well, Maya. If you look here, your six week ultrasound showed two implantations and yolk sacs for the development of twins. This is your current, twelve week ultrasound. There's an empty gestation sac while the other one has a baby."_

 _Lucas stared at the image on the ultrasound, a painful gripping in his chest at the words. He tightened his hold on Maya's hand, trying to help soothe her shaking by rubbing circles on her knuckles._

 _"So what?" Maya snapped, "What the hell do you mean empty gestation sac? How can there just be an empty sac when something was in there before?"_

 _"Maya, Lucas, I'm sorry to say one of your twins vanished."_

 _Maya swallowed thickly, her eyes glassy as her jaw clenched. Her grip on Lucas' hand tightened._

 _"I don't understand." Lucas said, "How?"_

 _"It happens sometimes, I'm afraid." Dr. Diaz said sympathetically, "It's called Vanishing Twin Syndrome, and though not particularly common, it does happen on occasion. It occurs when the uterus is not capable of carrying multiples at a given time. It essentially is something like a partial miscarriage. Maya, you told me you suffered from some bleeding yesterday that you believed to be spotting."_

 _Maya sniffled. "Are you saying that was a miscarriage, then?"_

 _"I believe so. I'm sorry."_

 _Lucas could barely breathe. His mind was spinning and his heart lurching painfully in his chest._

 _"Are we…" He cleared his throat when the sound came out thin. "Are we in danger of losing the other baby?"_

 _"There is no way to tell. We will continue to monitor Maya's pregnancy carefully to make sure your baby is safe and develops properly." She responded. "I do want you though to consider the possibility that the implantation could have been unstable for either babies, and that only time will tell what will occur. Please be prepared for anything that might happen."_

* * *

When Lucas walked into the apartment and tossed his keys and cellphone on the counter with a sigh. He stooped and picked up Maya's purse from the floor where she had apparently just dropped it. There was light coming from under their bedroom door, but everything else was darkened. He wondered if Maya had even bothered to take off her shoes.

Lucas knew she wasn't okay. He could clearly see that she was grieving. She was suffering.

Because he was too.

They lost one of their children, even if they never really got acquainted with them. Even if they had only seen them once, they had still lost a child by some force they had no control over. It had to be tearing Maya up inside. And he knew she was going to blame herself, regardless of the fact that it was not her fault. It was just her nature. And whenever she was in pain, she always tried to shoulder the burdens on her own, no matter how much Lucas tried to get her to open up to him.

He shuffled down the hall, feeling weighed down by the situation as he entered their bedroom.

Maya was curled up in a ball on the bed, sniffling softly and staring blankly at the opposite wall. Lucas climbed onto the bed, laying down next to her. She turned around and curled into him. She wasn't sobbing particularly loudly, but Lucas could definitely feel her body shaking slightly and the tears from her eyes were wetting his shirt. He rubbed her back gently, kissing the top of her head to let her know he was there, even if he didn't have the words to say to help alleviate her pain.

"Maya. Talk to me." He said against her hair.

"Lucas… I'm okay." she muttered, "Just shaken up a bit. I'll be okay."

"What's on your mind?"

"I wonder…" she mumbled into his chest in between a broken sniffle, "Is this was a sign that I don't deserve to be a mother? Is this a sign that maybe I'm not ready? That if I try motherhood, I'll be terrible at it?"

Lucas' heart broke at the pain in Maya's voice. She had already become insecure, developing ideas that she would be a terrible mother despite the fact that she hadn't yet had a chance to show what she could do.

"Maya, you'll be an incredible mother who cares the world for her child and wants nothing but their happiness. If you think for a second you don't deserve to be a mother, you're wrong."

"Lucas, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be."

"I know you're in pain too. I know you must blame me for this. I made us lose our—"

"Maya, stop." Lucas held her tighter to him, silently begging her to stop. It was breaking his heart. "This was not your fault, okay? This was never your fault. And I don't blame you. There was nothing we could have done to prevent this Maya. Please don't do this to yourself."

"I'm sorry…" she whimpered. "I'm so sorry for being so emotional."

"You don't have anything to apologize for."

They remained like that for a while, Maya sniffling quietly and occasionally sobbing as Lucas held her. Eventually, the sniffles petered out and were replaced by Maya's deep breaths from her sleep. When he was sure she was sleeping, he pulled himself from her grasp, rising from the bed. He tucked her in carefully, removing her heels and making sure she was comfortably situated under the blanket before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her head. Then he left the room, cutting the lights after watching Maya for a few seconds.

He walked to the living room, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. No doubt, despite his words, Maya was probably still thinking she was at fault for the loss of their child. But she needed to see that she definitely had what it took to be a mother.

And then it hit him.

Grabbing his cell phone from the counter, he dialed Riley's number. He had an idea, but if he wanted it to work out, he would need her help.

 _"You've got three minutes Lucas, I'm walking to a meeting."_ She said as soon as she picked up.

"Riley, Maya and I lost a twin."

 _"What? No… That's horrible! Maya. Is Maya okay? Do I need to come back to New York?"_

"She's not. She will be, but right now she's having thoughts that she shouldn't be a mom at all."

 _"But she'll make a wonderful mother."_

"I know. That's why I need your help. I need a phone number. The phone number of a student whose first name is Joey. He attends JQA High and is in Maya's art class. That's all the information I can give you because that's all I know. You think you could find out his phone number for me?"

 _"You're asking for something kind of illegal, Lucas. Not to mention it might take a little bit of a while since all you have is vague information."_

"It's for Maya, that's all. I swear I won't use it for any wrong reasons. I just need to contact him."

Riley was silent for quite a while before she finally sighed.

 _"…Alright. I can get you the phone number, but you better not tell anyone. I could lose my job for this."_

"What do you do exactly anyway?" Lucas asked suspiciously.

It wasn't clear to _anyone_ exactly what Riley's job was. Not even Farkle really knew. She called it "consulting" for the government, but that could still have meant any number of things. Plus there was the fact that Riley had access to a lot of classified information that the general public wouldn't know. Honestly, he was really curious as to what she did, but no one had been able to get a clear answer from her.

 _"Oh look. Three minutes are up. Gotta go."_ Riley said, clearly avoiding the question, _"I'll get you that number by the end of the day. And Lucas. I expect good results of whatever you need this number for or I'm coming back to Maya. Bye."_

After ending the call, Lucas headed back to their bedroom. He slipped off his shoes and climbed into bed behind her, knowing that all she needed right now was some comforting. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him as she slept.

Lucas honestly hoped his plan would work because he couldn't bear to see Maya suffering.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Oops… (When you realize you haven't updated in a month…) I guess it just took me too long to get to this story and then I missed opportunity after opportunity to update because this chapter was kind of weird and hard to write for some reason. Not like physically hard, but like structurally and plot wise. I couldn't get my thoughts or ideas organized for this chapter. It just came out a bit more awkwardly written than I would have liked. I had two different versions before I could figure out which to use. So sorry if it's rough, but in the end I wrote it out this way and I hope it works! If you really think it needs work, let me know, I can try to pull a better organization from my brain and try again :)**

 **I'm actually going to attempt to finish writing this story by next week. Let's see how badly I fail lol ;3**

 **Thank you guys for always being so supportive and kind! I honestly appreciate all the time you all have taken to read this story! I appreciate it very much and I am happy that you all are enjoying the story! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

As soon as Lucas parked in his spot, he cut off the engine of his truck and hurried his way back to the apartment, climbing the stairs two at a time. He'd just gotten done meeting with Joey and getting what he had asked him for. Joey hadn't been particularly open or friendly with Lucas when he had first contacted him, making some difficult to understand comments about Lucas daring to impregnate Maya in the first place and taking her off the market. But once Lucas had told him the situation, he'd been completely on board, promising Lucas he could get it done by the end of the next day.

And he had done it, just as promised.

Now all Lucas had to do was show Maya and hopefully his plan would work.

He unlocked the apartment door, leaving his shoes in the foyer as he made his way to the living room.

"Maya?" he called out, "You home?"

There was no response, but as he walked into the living room, he found Maya sitting on the sofa staring blankly at the TV, watching some western movie. The volume was set higher than she normally would have it, and he had heard the saloon brawl the characters were in fairly easily from down the hall.

"Maya." Lucas said in concern, "Have you been sitting here all day watching TV?"

She cleared her throat, snapping out of her daze with a slight frown, her gaze still half lidded and no particular expression on her face.

"No… I…"

She fell silent, her expression still blank, and Lucas' heart clenched in his chest from seeing Maya this way. So unresponsive and looking lost. She had stopped crying, but it definitely seemed like now she was resorting to her old tactics of blocking herself off and putting up a guard to avoid the pain. It wasn't healthy, but Lucas knew that short of Riley forcing her out of that state through physical means, he didn't think there was really anything he could do or say that could stop her spiraling right now.

Which was why he desperately hoped this would work. Because if it didn't, he would have to call Riley to come fix things, and she would yell at him for not properly taking care of her Peaches. Lucas could still remember the day he and Maya had officially called it quits after their fight, and Riley had given him a four hour lecture about how stupid the two of them were for ruining their relationship that badly until his ears had bled. He knew if he screwed this up, Riley would come after him again with some of her work colleagues. And she would not be quite so lenient this time since Maya was pregnant. Double the people, double the pain she had told him.

Lucas sighed and picked up the remote and changed the channel to one of the video channels before sliding the CD he'd gotten from Joey into the DVD player. He set it to play.

"Maya, I have something for you. I know you've been hurting, but I think I know just how to cheer you up."

He walked back over to the couch, settling next to Maya and taking her hand in his. She didn't respond though she glanced at him warily out of the corner of her eyes for a moment before returning her gaze to the TV.

When the video started, Joey's face appeared on screen, a camcorder flipped to face him as he spoke in it.

 _"Hey Maya. I heard about you losing one of your babies. Sorry that happened. A high class woman such as yourself doesn't deserve that at all. But your Casanova came to me with a request that I put together a video for you apparently kinda like some video you made for him when you two were kids or something. I didn't get it, but whatever. It's not the best quality, but I only had two days to do this, so blame Casanova for wanting it so soon. So here you are, teach. Why do you think Maya Hart will make a great mother?"_

The screen changed to Joey holding a mini microphone to a student in the hallway.

 _"Maya? Oh she's totally chill. She's an awesome role model and if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have been able to figure out my passion for art and design. I'm going to fashion school in the fall thanks to her guidance. She wrote my rec letters for this program in Paris too and I got a full scholarship! She's literally the best."_

 _"My mom was rarely home when she was on her job hunt. When I told Maya, she let me stay at her apartment until my mom got home and would make me dinner so I wouldn't have to buy takeout all the time. She really took care of me and it made my mom's absence easier to deal with. I have no doubt she'll be a great mom. If she can care for some random student like her own child, then imagine just how much care she'll put into taking care of her baby."_

 _"She's like a mother to us in her own way, Maya is. I don't know how to describe it, but she's just so comforting and warm."_

 _"That kid is lucky to have her as its mother. Maya's like that zen older sister, mom, aunt person that you've always wanted. And her leather jackets are sick. Her kid's gonna be the coolest kid in school."_

 _"Do I think she'll make a good mom? What? What kind of stupid question is that? Have you even met Maya? Her very presence in the classroom—she doesn't even have to say anything—is a comfort. But you can totally talk to her about anything. And she listens. Really listens and pays attention and gives really good advice."_

 _"I've never had her class or talked to her before, but one time, Ms. Hart climbed a giant tree in the back of the school in these four inch heels to get a cat out. It was pretty badass. I think it goes without saying that her kid has a pretty fearless mom. Shit. I wish my mom would climb a tree in four inch heels."_

Maya sniffled, letting out a small laugh, and Lucas glanced at her with a smile. Her eyes were red rimmed and watery, her lower lip trembling slightly. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, snuggling up closer to him.

 _"She's like all three Powerpuff girls. She's sweet like Bubbles, tough as nails like Buttercup, and driven and a great leader like Blossom. Sugar, spice, and everything nice. Totally a well-rounded mom."_

 _"Like, out of all the teachers I have, Maya is the most nurturing and definitely my favourite. Like, she actually cares about our wellbeing and like, how we're doing in school and stuff like that. And like, I know that her baby will like have the best mother they could ever have."_

 _"Oh my God, Maya is super assertive and doesn't take any crap from anyone! So her child will probably not get away with any crazy stuff. That's a good thing in my opinion. A mom who will discipline."_

 _"Maya's having a baby?! What the fuck?! Holy shit! Holy shit! How come I didn't know this?! Of course she's going to make an amazing mom! She's passionate about life and everything she does and will definitely inspire her child to become passionate about something in life too. She's a great teacher and leader and is literally like the only reason why so many people have come to love art! God, and she's just the coolest person ever and has such great taste in music and literature and she's just so knowledgeable about so much random stuff and she's so smart and down to earth and chill! Her kid is literally going to be so well versed in so many areas of life!"_

 _"Maya would make a great mom because she gets it. She gets life. And that'll definitely play a huge role in the way her kid grows up."_

 _"Her eyes. And I'm not just saying that because I have the biggest girl crush on her. She can literally talk to you with her eyes. Seriously. It's so cool. She can tell you to shut up without a word or praise you without a word or show you how proud she is or console you or let you know when you're in trouble and scare the crap out of you with a single look. And her smile is the best damn thing ever, especially when her nose crinkles up all cute when you make her laugh. It makes you want to smile too. I love her smile. Always puts me in a good mood. But can you not put this on whatever video project you're doing though? My huge crush on her is kind of embarrassing."_

 _"Because she's like a mother to us. And if she's that good of a mother to us, she's going to be an even better mother to her baby."_

Maya whimpered with a chuckle, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Lucas pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

 _"She smiles at me in the hallway, even if she doesn't know me. Ms. Hart smiles at everyone. She just seems like a really genuine person, I guess? I think she'd be a good mom."_

 _"Hmm… Why she would make a good mom? I guess I would say because she's a nurturer. She understands what it means to lift up students and encourage them without coddling or spoiling them. She seems to have a pretty good balance between being a mom and being a friend."_

 _"Well, we all know Maya would make a pretty awesome mom because she's just perfect. But can we just talk about how gorgeous she is and how gorgeous a kid she's probably baking in her oven right now? And I've seen her baby daddy. Holy crap… They are going to have one seriously attractive kid. A lot of great genes in that pool to pick and choose from."_

 _"Maya Hart is going to be the perfect mother. Because she respects all of her students as individual human beings with their own lives and problems, and she acknowledges that. She pays attention to that. And she's going to do the same for her baby. She deserves all the congrats in the world for having the chance to be a mother. Phenomenal woman. Seriously."_

 _"Oooooh. Okay, Maya is flawless, but she's like also flawed. Like what I mean is that she makes mistakes and she owns up to them and apologizes, you know? My sister always told me to never trust an adult who can't admit when they're wrong or own up to their mistakes, but she does and that's what counts to me. Trustworthiness. The fact that I am able to trust her with things when we talk is really important to me. I can trust her to listen. I can trust her to be there for me if I need her. She's also very humble. She has great qualities that her baby will pick up."_

 _"Why I think Maya will be a great mom? That's an easy answer. She has so much love in her big heart to give. She'll be a great mother because she'll give her baby all that love and more unconditionally and without hesitation."_

The scene cut to a bunch of the previously interrogated people standing in a group in her classroom, waving at the camera.

 _"And that's why_ we _think Maya Hart will make a great mother! We love you, Maya!"_

Joey's face came back on the screen for the final scene.

 _"You got that, Maya? There's no reason you should be scared or unconfident of being a mom. You'll be a great one. But if that really good looking Casanova with the face doesn't treat you right, Maya, you come to me, okay? I'll take care of you. And you. Casanova. You're lucky to have her. She's the best authority figure I know. And that's saying something because I hate all authority. You better cherish Maya, got it?"_

The screen faded to black, and Maya straightened up, her breathing a bit choppy from her impending sobs as she turned to Lucas with a smile.

"You asked him to do this for me?"

"Of course I did. I couldn't bear to see you hurting like that."

"Lucas…" she murmured softly, cradling his cheek with one hand, her eyes welling with tears again.

"Maya. You're compassionate. You're loving and patient and always put the people you care about as a priority in your life. You'll make a wonderful mother to our baby, okay? Don't you ever think otherwise." he said gently, wiping away a tear trickling down her cheek, "I really am lucky to have you as the mother of my child. And I wouldn't have it any other way. You're everything that I've always wanted and more. You're my better half, and you make me a better me just by being around. You're an inspiration to all of us, and you'll be an inspiration to our child. Believe me and every one of those people when we say that our baby is in great hands because they will have you as their mother. So please cheer up, Maya. When you're unhappy, it breaks my heart. And you know all I want is for you to be happy."

Maya's face contorted and she broke down, sobbing, tears running down her cheeks in small rivulets, her hand shakily covering her mouth as she started tearfully laughing. He pulled her into a hug, holding her tight and rubbing soothing circles on her back as she clung to him, crying happily into the crook of his neck and shoulder, her body shaking from her sobs.

"I love you, Lucas… I love you so much. Thank you… Thank you…"

"I love you too, Maya." he whispered, his heart almost bursting in his chest, "More than life itself."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Two or three chapters are left, I think. Unless I decide to split another one in two. Apologies for taking so long to update. I just wasn't feeling my usual _urge_ to update this, ya know? :/ I wasn't in the mood for writing fluff for a while and since I wasn't in the right mindset for fluff, it would never have come out right. Still not really feeling the fluffy mood right now (I'm stuck in raunch and angst lol), but it's almost been a month, and I know this needs to be updated.  
**

 **Very grateful for all of you guys. Thank you for always being so sweet. It honestly means the world to me, and I appreciate all the support you've given me! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

Lucas checked his watch as he shut their apartment door, groaning to himself when he realized it was nearly three in the morning.

Maya owed him. Big time.

He had to get up for work in about three hours and unfortunately, he'd barely even gotten any sleep in the first place. Maya had been uncomfortable and was suffering from a slight cold she'd caught from one of her students. Half the time during the night, she had complained it was too hot and would kick Lucas away from her and off the side of the bed and toss the covers across the room. The other half, she would poke at Lucas, telling him she was freezing, and he'd have to get the blanket and snuggle up to her once again.

Rinse, lather repeat.

It got old fast.

But he knew she couldn't help it. Maya was fairly hormonal at the moment, and he didn't want to upset her, especially since she was pretty dangerous, and she'd taken to using her elbows as weapons since she wasn't as mobile as she had been.

But she was killing him.

It wasn't even her third trimester yet, and she was already terrifying him with her confused pregnancy brain and stormy moods when she was furious over something. She'd left the stove on with a pan on it once after she'd left for work, but thankfully, Lucas had caught it when he'd accidentally forgotten the keys to his car and had to head back inside. And he didn't even want to get started on how many times she'd gotten raging mad at him for suggesting she should relax or asking her if she wanted to take a nap. Sometimes, he felt like he was walking on eggshells with her.

And Maya was _demanding_.

That night, after pushing him off the bed for the umpteenth time, she had whined that she couldn't sleep because their baby girl kept moving and that they were both hungry and wanted a tuna melt from Nighthawk Diner, or they wouldn't be able to sleep. That had become her recent argument for _everything_ whenever she wanted Lucas to do something for her. And if he didn't do it, she would claim he was upsetting the baby.

Honestly, he couldn't refuse her request even if he wanted to. Maya was so unbelievably cute, and he was so deeply in love with her he just couldn't deny her wishes. Not to mention, he knew how taxing this pregnancy was on her body. She acted tough most of the time, but her pregnancy wasn't as gentle and relaxing as she would have hoped. He would catch her wincing from her soreness on occasion and she never quite got over her morning sickness, throwing up at random times in the week. Other days, she would be bedridden with headaches or just too plain exhausted to even think about going on with her day.

Lucas knew he looked like roadkill at the moment and those bags under his eyes were only becoming more pronounced with each day that passed, but he knew that was nothing on what Maya was dealing with. And because of that, he could tolerate the difficulties.

"The things I do for love…" he muttered, heading towards the bedroom to bring her the tuna melt.

And then he did a double take when he passed by the kitchen and found Maya sitting in front of the closed fridge, a jar of dill pickle slices resting between her legs as she munched on one absentmindedly.

"Maya? Brought your tuna melt."

She looked up at him, giving him a tired smile, sniffling a bit. "Sorry. I'm not really craving it anymore."

Lucas sighed, setting the bag on the counter and walking around over to her. This wasn't the first time that had happened. Later on, she would usually get the craving back and finish up the food.

"Can't sleep?"

She nodded, setting the half eaten slice back into the jar and sighing as she closed the lid.

"Nothing's working. Meditation, deep breathing exercises, reading a little bit, eating. Nothing. And Katia is absolutely fighting me with everything she has."

Lucas felt bad. Maya really did look exhausted. And with her cold, he couldn't even imagine how much harder it was hitting her.

He stooped in front of her, taking her hands when she reached up for him, and gently pulled her up to her feet. Maya leaned against him, resting her head against his chest as he rubbed her back.

"No one told me pregnancy would be hard." She mumbled, her voice a bit muffled. "Television lies…"

"Here." Lucas chuckled. "Let's go to bed and see if we can figure it out."

They walked back to their bedroom, and Lucas sat on their bed, leaning back against the headboard before tugging on Maya's arm for her to join him. Maya groaned in slight pain as she climbed up on the bed and settled between his legs, laying back against his chest slowly and trying to get in a comfortable position.

"I fail to see how this will help me sleep, Huckleberry." Maya said.

"Loosen up a bit."

Maya frowned, but did so. When he felt her muscles unstiffen, he slipped his hands under her nightdress to the swell of her belly. She hadn't been kidding. Katia was really hitting hard. Lucas gently rubbed Maya's abdomen in slow, soothing circles, smiling to himself when she near melted in his arms, sighing in bliss as their baby finally stopped kicking.

"How do you do that?" Maya asked, leaning her head back against his shoulder.

"Do what?"

"Always manage to help her relax."

"It's a gift."

"I've been talking to her all night and feeding her whatever she wants, and she's violent and stubborn." Maya groaned, her eyes drooping shut as he continued his gentle ministrations. "You come in, and she's quiet. Why is she a daddy's girl already?"

"I don't know." Lucas laughed. "But she sounds an awful lot like a certain Shortstack I know."

"Hmmm…" Maya hummed, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the little massage.

They remained silent for a little while, Lucas continuing the slow, easy circles to relax both of his girls. Maya's breathing was a little deeper than before, but she didn't seem like she was on the verge of sleeping yet.

"Do you feel sleep coming on?"

"Kind of yes, kind of no." Maya said, though she didn't open her eyes, "To be honest, I'm not sure my body wants me to sleep right now."

"Maybe you're thinking too actively about trying to sleep and that's why it's not happening."

"Maybe… Distract me?"

"Alright." Lucas said, "I want to know, Maya. When did you decide you wanted a future with me?"

"When? The day we had sex for the first time after we started dating in college."

Lucas smirked. "I was that good that you never wanted anyone else?"

"Don't get a big head, Huckleberry. Not _after_ we had sex. Before we got back to your dorm." Maya turned her head slightly and gave him an amused look. "We were volunteering to read books at the children's hospital. There was a little boy who fell and started crying and you swooped in and helped him and lifted him up and did this airplane thing with him. He had the biggest smile on his face thanks to you. That's how I just knew. I wanted to have children with you."

"You've wanted to have my children for ten years then?" Lucas asked, surprised by her admittance.

He had been right when he had guessed about half a year ago that Maya had been thinking about having his kids for a particularly long time.

"It was just a whim back then. But after we graduated, as we found jobs and became adults, it became much more intense. I kept having daydreams of us being a family. Raising a family. It didn't matter what the scenario was or how many kids we had. It was always you. I had to have your children no matter what. I was even willing to fight other people for your babies if I had to. But then we fell apart. And I thought I had lost that chance. And you know how the rest goes. That's why I'm so happy that you decided to let me have your baby. That you've decided to stay with me too. Thank you, Lucas. You made my dream come true."

He smiled, feeling nothing but sheer happiness that he was with Maya, and that they could finally have that family they'd both dreamed about having with each other. He really was so unbelievably lucky.

"You made my dream come true too, Maya."

She turned her head towards him, and he pressed his lips to hers softly. Maya leaned into him, deepening the kiss with a little hum of pleasure.

"…Lucas, I don't think this is going to help me sleep." She murmured against his lips.

"I know."

He kissed her again, slow and unhurried as her hand slid up around the back of his neck and she tangled her fingers into his hair. Lucas wasn't particularly paying attention to where his hand was or how far down it had drifted until he felt the waistband of Maya's panties. He absentmindedly stroked the skin, and she shivered a bit, inhaling sharply before letting out a soft moan against his lips.

He pulled away slightly, his brows lifting as they stared at each other, seemingly coming to the same realization.

Lucas' lips curved up into a slightly devious grin.

"I think I figured out a better way to help you get to sleep."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Still not feeling the "fluff", but if I don't force it out of me, this will never get written. Last pregnancy chapter guys... and then Lucas' hand will get broken. *wink wink*  
**

 **Hi confused Guest! Maya did lose _a_ baby. One of her twins. She didn't lose both. **

**Also hi Lucayaisotp (you commented on WWW)! I don't know if you'll see this, I'm assuming you will hopefully? But lol this story IS the one I was referring to when I said I had another pregnancy story out other than Enceinte. It's not a "traditional" pregnancy story because the focus wasn't originally on the pregnancy, but how they got there. The entire pregnancy part was supposed to be in the epilogue, but as I started writing it out, I realized the epilogue would end up being over ten thousand words if I didn't space it out. So there ended up being more chapters than I intended (Lol 7).  
**

 **Thank you for the kind reviews! I appreciate the time you guys are taking out of your busy holiday season to drop me these kind words I don't deserve. Thank you for being so sweet! I appreciate it! :D**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

"Urgh… why is this place so dirty?" Maya muttered under her breath, looking around their baby's room in irritation.

Maya was nesting quite a bit, constantly wanting to clean and fix up the place to prep, but Lucas had done his best to distract her to make sure she was relaxed as they slowly approached her due date. They were both just ready and impatient for Katia to arrive already, though they both knew the sleepless nights would continue for a while afterwards.

Lucas chuckled under his breath, gently massaging Maya's feet as she let out these soft moans of pure bliss every few handful of seconds when he hit a particular spot that was sore.

"It's fine, Maya."

Although he knew he had lied with that. Their apartment was currently a wreck, especially the living room and the kitchen with the leftover food and the utensils and silverware on every surface. There was a hell of a lot of stuff to clean up, and even though Maya would definitely complain about it later (he had no doubt), Lucas knew he'd probably end up cleaning it up himself.

Maya had had her baby shower that entire afternoon and they'd had several guests over to partake in the celebration. Unfortunately, Riley hadn't been able to make it because she was out of the country on a job, and Farkle hadn't been able to come either since he was at a debate in Illinois, but they'd sent their gifts much earlier.

Their last guests had left not ten minutes ago, and Lucas and Maya had spent some time moving the baby goods they'd received into his old home office—turned baby room—where they had everything set up to prepare for when Katia would come in about two weeks. Plush couch for nursing, changing station, crib, stuffed animals, and more for their daughter. They'd arranged a lot of stuff already, but there were still gifts scattered all over the living room. They'd gotten tired of the cleaning up and arranging about three minutes in and Maya had lain down on the fuzzy rug, relaxing her aching limbs. Lucas had taken it upon himself to help relieve the tension in her feet.

He knew Maya had to be exhausted from the day's events. She could only smile and laugh and keep up appearances for so long before she needed to rest. Each day that passed, she was less energetic, needing more rest and sometimes just spending the whole day lounging around on the bed, whining and threatening to handcuff Lucas to the bed if he didn't come cuddle with her after work.

As if right on cue, Maya lifted her head and pouted at him.

"Come lay down next to me, Huckleberry."

He set her foot down gently and crawled over beside her, lying down next to Maya on his back and also staring at the ceiling of their baby room. Maya had painted a sun around the ceiling fan, its rays of light spreading across the entire ceiling. Maya had finished painting the room about a week ago, tastefully decorating one wall with a tree in the springtime and bluebirds flitting about near the head of the crib. She'd painted the entire room in pastels, the rest of the room a scene of a warm spring afternoon with animals playing and frolicking about.

"You know? I've been wondering. Why did you draw an elephant if this is supposed to be a forest?" Lucas muttered playfully.

"Quiet Ranger Rick. I did what I could with Katia threatening to burst out of me."

"An elephant though?"

"Hater."

Lucas chuckled under his breath, catching Maya's hand in his own and lacing their fingers together. She gave his hand a soft squeeze and in that moment, he didn't think he could feel any more comfortable beside Maya, laying on the floor and having a quiet moment to themselves.

"I'm just glad you're done with painting it."

"Hmmm."

He was utterly, unbelievably in love with Maya, but she was scaring the _shit_ out of him with her reckless behaviour. She'd tried to climb on the nightstand to paint one of the leaves near the top of the tree, and Lucas had nearly had a heart attack when he came back from getting them some water and Maya had almost fallen backwards. She'd found it hilarious that he flung the bottles and rushed to try to catch her if she did fall, but he had thought his heart was going to stop. She had been much too blasé about her pregnancy, acting basically the same way she had always acted, and though Lucas wished she would utilize him more, she refused to let him do everything or handle everything when she was just as capable.

He believed her. He honestly did. He knew she could do it herself, he just wished he didn't have to lose five years of his life every time Maya decided to climb up on surfaces. He only hoped Katia would grow up tall so he wouldn't end up with two short little stacks of pancakes who would climb on things and make him lose his mind with fear.

"How are your contractions?"

"Crappy." Maya replied honestly, turning her head and smiling at Lucas. "But they're still spaced out pretty far. And I think most of them are just cramps. But Katia is ready to come out."

"Two weeks." Lucas said softly, also turning his head and gazing into Maya's beautiful, glimmering blue-gray eyes. "And then we're full time parents."

"Lucas…" Maya murmured with a soft chuckle, stroking her abdomen with her free hand. "We made a _baby_. It's just hard to believe sometimes."

"I know."

He leaned forward and kissed her softly. Maya's eyes fluttered closed, and she smiled against his lips.

"If I wasn't so exhausted, I would be on your lap right now rewarding you." Maya said.

"Maya Hart, too tired for sex? Never thought I would see the day." Lucas teased playfully, reaching over and stroking Maya's cheek.

"You know you're just as tired as I am, Ranger Rick."

"True. It's okay though. We'll have plenty of time for that when you're feeling better."

She opened her eyes, meeting Lucas' gaze. "You know we won't have time for each other in a long time, right?"

"Yeah."

"Promise you won't let that affect us."

She was speaking calmly, but Lucas could see the small sparks of fear crawling into her gaze that he hadn't seen in a while.

"Maya…" He frowned in concern.

"I've heard the horror stories from some of our friends. How having children can ruin relationships. How they drift apart and how having no time for intimacy makes them lose some part that kept their relationship healthy. I'm scared of losing what we have, Lucas."

She was scared of losing him, no doubt. She was scared he would leave.

"Maya. Yes, I have no doubt once we start raising Katia, things will be different. But we'll last. Because we'll make time for each other. Because neither of us will let us lose our relationship. Having less time for each other just means that we'll spend more time appreciating the time we do have with each other. We'll want to be near each other more." Lucas said, tucking a strand of her wild hair behind her ear. "Nothing in life is constant. Hell, we can attest to that. It took us five years with a lot of ups and downs to get back to where we were before we broke up. And a lot of Riley threatening me."

Maya chuckled softly, snuggling closer to him.

"But we can still have a kid and have our relationship. We can still have quickies in my car before I drop you off at work." He grinned when Maya rolled her eyes. "Unconditional love is what will make us last. And we have that. Between us _and_ for our child. I know we'll be okay. And I'm not going anywhere."

"…You do deserve a reward. If I could get up from this comfortable position, I swear your pants would be off right now."

Lucas smiled, cupping her cheek, his heart pounding in his chest as he gazed at the woman who had managed to capture his heart on a subway when they were younger. If someone had told Lucas at fourteen that he would meet the love of his life and soulmate through a ten second crazy relationship, he would never have believed it for a second.

Yet here he was, about to start a family with that same woman. The one who'd shown him it was okay to be him. The one who'd accepted him and lifted him up to be a better version of himself.

His missing half. His _better_ half. The one who'd made his life complete.

" _You_ are my reward, Maya. Just for wanting to be with me. For wanting to raise a family with me. For letting me love you, Maya. And for loving me too. I have everything I need with you."

Maya reached up with a sniffle, her eyes glistening with some unshed tears as she stroked his cheek. Her eyes were loving and warm as she gazed at him.

"Stupid Huckleberry's got me all emotional…" Maya smiled softly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

She leaned forward and closed the gap between them, their lips meeting in another gentle kiss as Lucas wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her closer to him.

And Lucas knew he was the luckiest man alive.


	15. Epilogue

**A/N: I left some details out and really tamped down the humour aspect to romanticize the birth (I've seen a mentor give birth and it's not as "pretty" as I thought it would be. It's _beautiful_ , the process really is, but it's not _pretty_ ) because I decided to go the fluff route instead of funny. The second part of this chapter was a small request by Sundowner for a scene similar to OTH's (I'll be honest, I've never seen it, but from what you told me, I hope it worked for you!)  
**

 **Alright guys! It's been a ride (though longer than I expected) but now it's time to close out this story! Yaaaay! My first mid-length completed Lucaya story ever! I had a lot of fun writing this story and though the fluff was more difficult to write than I expected, I'm glad it was decent enough for you guys!  
**

 **First, I want to say thank you for everything, the kind, lovely reviews, the favourites and follows, the support even through my crappy updating times and difficulties staying on track with my schedule. Just the fact that you guys read the story makes me doofy happy. You guys are amazing, and I can't thank you enough. I appreciate you taking a chance on this weird af story. Fluff is not my strongest suit and quite frankly most of the time I just don't want to write it, but it's been an interesting experience/experiment. I learned a lot about my writing and where my strengths and weaknesses lie through this story and maybe waaaaaay in the future, I might try something as fluffy as this again to get more practice (I didn't even technically succeed tbh. This wasn't even straight fluff lol. This was angst with some fluff slipped in towards the end. I TRIED THOUGH.) And second, there _is_ a sequel oneshot for this story, but it'll be in Love And War.  
**

 **Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed It Has To Be You, despite all of its shortcomings. I thank you guys once again and I love you all!  
**

 **And with that:**

 **À tout à l'heure, mes chéris! Bisous!**

 **Disclaimer: It's a good thing I don't own GMW because these poor characters would be put through the ringer...**

* * *

"Stop talking on the phone, you dumbass!" Maya shouted, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and whimpering in pain as another sharp contraction hit her. "Hang up or we're never having sex again!"

"It's only Riley, Maya. Your best friend in the whole wide world, remember?" Lucas said calmly, knowing if he visibly reacted any type of way, Maya would snap. She was barely hanging on as it was. He brushed Maya's sweaty hair out of her forehead before talking directly on the phone. "Riley, Maya needs me to hang up. I don't think it would be wise to disobey."

 _"No! I'm missing a meeting so I can make Katia's birth! I refuse to miss it! Put me on speaker!"_

He pushed the button for speaker phone and Maya shot him a glare so sharp he thought he had a knife to his throat.

"I thought I told you to hang up, Lucas!"

 _"I am not missing the birth of my goddaughter! Maya, do not let that baby out, do you understand me? You can't have her until I get there."_

"Riley, she is coming out whether you want her to or not!" Maya yelled. "So if you want to be here for her birth, you better tell that cab driver to fucking book it!"

"She's right, you know," Dr. Diaz said to Lucas from the foot of the hospital bed. "Almost fully dilated. This baby is ready to go. I don't think it'll take very long."

Maya sat up slightly with a grunt. " _You_ , shut the fuck up."

Lucas gave their doctor a sheepish smile as she ducked her head back down under the sheet in fright at Maya's anger.

"Sorry, she doesn't mean it."

"Oh hell yes I do mean it!" Maya barked, rage in her eyes. "Don't you dare apologize for me, you fuckwad! You try being on this hospital bed for hours with painful contractions, not being allowed to eat anything, bleeding more than any fucking period you've ever had before and vomiting and pissing and shitting on yourself while a damn baby is trying to force herself out of you! Do you see how fucking small I am?! Do you even know what Katia is trying to—"

Maya suddenly cried out, her face contorting in pain as she gripped Lucas' hand so tightly, his knuckles cracked. Lucas closed his eyes, grimacing and trying to ride out the wave of pain. He'd read up on labour as much as he could, even asking Emma to give him some advice on how not to anger Maya since Emma had witnessed the birth of her younger sibling (and watched her mother punch her father in the face). He'd heard about labour rage, but Maya's was off the charts high. He didn't blame her when she was in a lot of pain, though she _was_ exaggerating a bit about the bleeding and excretions. It hadn't been as bad as she thought. He wouldn't argue with her comments though. He had no doubt Maya would get up and find something to stab him with if he dared contradict her.

 _"I'm a block from the hospital! I'm almost there, Maya! Hold Katia in. And Lucas, pay attention to her and stop talking on the phone! You're upsetting her!"_

He stared at the phone incredulously for a moment, wondering if Riley enjoyed making everything his fault when it pertained to Maya. But Maya whimpered, a tear trickling down her cheek as she tried to take deep breaths from the pain. He tossed the phone on the other bed, leaning down and wiping the tear from her cheek before clasping her hand in both of his. Maya was breathing heavily, her stringy hair plastered to her face and nose slightly red as she tried to relax.

"This is all your fault, you damn Huckleberry."

She was the one who wanted him to get her pregnant. Did she forget that this was part of the pregnancy too? But no way he was going to say _that_ out loud. She would maim him with her claws.

"I'm not dealing with this pain next time."

"Next time?" he said playfully, trying to bring some levity to the situation. "So does that mean you want to have another baby?"

Maya shot him a glare so vicious he clammed up, chuckling nervously and deciding it was better to nix on the jokes for now. He was really screwing up and honestly, he was starting to get scared that Maya might actually hop out of her hospital bed and kick his ass or anyone else's. She'd threatened pretty much everyone by this point, and he had a feeling she was extremely close to snapping. Every time they thought she had calmed down, she would rage within a second.

"Lucas…" Maya groaned, dropping her head back onto her pillow after another particularly bad contraction. "I just want our baby to come already."

"I know, Maya." He cradled her cheek, and she gratefully leaned into his hand with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry there's not much I can do for you right now, but you're doing amazing. I'm proud of you."

She chuckled softly, her eyes welling with tears as she gazed up at him with a sweet smile, her glassy blue-gray eyes making Lucas' heart race.

"You're beautiful, Maya…" he murmured.

And he meant it. She was beautiful and all he could feel was an all-encompassing love for her.

"Thank you." Her gaze grew sharp, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she glowered at him. "And when I get this baby out of me, I can guarantee you I'm skewering your ass for thinking it was a good idea to get me pregnant."

A nurse dabbed away some of the sweat on Maya's face and placed a cold towel on Maya's forehead. "You're doing great, Maya."

Maya gasped for breath, wincing as she shuddered from the pain, gripping Lucas' hand again and sinking her nails into his skin when another really sharp contraction hit her. She was shaking so badly, her face scrunched up in absolute pain, and Lucas couldn't help but feel terrible for her. The contractions were coming much faster now and sustained for a much longer time. Lucas knew because the amount of pain his hand suffered was steadily and gradually increasing in frequency and the sheer agony from her death grip was lasting longer and longer.

"Lucas…"

"I'm right here, Maya. It's okay. Look at me," Lucas said, stroking her cheek. Maya slowly opened her eyes as she tried to catch her breath, staring up at Lucas. "Right here, okay?"

She nodded, her breathing a bit shallow as her face contorted again. She grit her teeth, a soft whimper escaping her lips as the contraction rode through.

"Maya, you're fully dilated. Your baby is dropping," Dr. Diaz said, speaking slowly and calmly. "You are doing great. Now, I want you to push when you feel the urge to push. But relax and breathe as best as you can during your contractions, okay? Lucas, I want you to breathe with her."

Lucas and Maya both nodded. She bit her lower lip as she shut her eyes tight, squeezing Lucas' hand as a strained grunt left her mouth. Maya tried to relax as she breathed, sucking in choppy breaths of air.

"In and out, Maya," Lucas said. "Breathe with me. Just like we practiced."

She breathed slowly with him, trying to find some rest through the pain.

Lucas was unbelievably proud of her. Despite suffering through the birth, she was still fighting to finish it out. And not just through the birth, but even through the grueling nine months, many of which where her pregnancy was out of control.

Her outrageous morning sickness. Her avid forgetfulness. Her pickle juice cravings. Her discomfort in sleep. Her crazy hormones.

On the one hand, it had been very cute to watch his pregnant almost, sort of, kind of, but not really, but might as well be because they lived together and she wore his ring on her finger and she was having his baby wife, but Maya was also terrifying pregnant and her mood swings would come and go very dangerously.

There was livid Maya who would be raging mad one second only to start crying right afterwards thinking Lucas hated her because she caused him pain in the past. When Lucas would reassure her that he did not in fact hate her, that was all it took for her to get horny. Lucas overslept for work too many times than was acceptable. And horny Maya was just as dangerous as raging Maya because she was _too_ kinky.

Lucas never thought he'd live to see a day where he was a little bit scared to have sex with her, but it happened. He'd hidden all of their bondage accessories after that evening, and honestly, he wasn't sure he would ever put them back.

But unfortunately for Maya, the pregnancy wasn't easy.

They'd had their fair shares of ups and downs. Maya sprained an ankle during a class about a week and a half before. Thankfully, it had only been light ligament stretching, so she'd been able to use an aircast, but getting the call from her saying she was heading to the hospital had nearly given him a heart attack. Not to mention the three false alarms they'd had that she was in labour.

Even the birth had been a bit troublesome for her.

Maya's dilation had been slow, and she was forty weeks and two days overdue when her labour contractions _really_ started. They'd gone to the hospital and their obstetrician had told them they would break Maya's water once she reached five centimeters if it still hadn't broken by then, but it turned out they didn't need to.

Lucas could remember it like it was yesterday—it _had_ been yesterday actually—when Maya's water suddenly broke when he had been giving her a lower back massage to help her ailing soreness only for liquid to start trickling down her leg. He had been terrified and thought he had popped her like a balloon or something. Maya had laughed and laughed at that, until a sharp contraction had nearly knocked her off her feet. Within five minutes, things had progressed quite rapidly, and Maya had been crying out from the intensity of the contractions. Dr. Diaz had come in and prepped for delivery, instructing Maya on how to handle what was happening to her.

But the delivery had not been kind to Maya.

She refused to get an epidural because she was scared of what the drug could possibly do to their baby. And aside from the pain she was in, she'd been in labour for about twenty-nine hours now waiting for her cervix to dilate completely, and Lucas knew she was exhausted. He'd been up the whole time with her, supporting her as she gradually grew more and more irate and frustrated at the time it was taking to get her baby out.

At her worst, she threw Lucas' pen at one of the nurses whose shoes were apparently making too much noise. She'd wanted to break the TV at some point too so Lucas turned it off and then she yelled at him for turning it off so he'd put it back on. Not to mention all of her 'no sex ever again' threats which the hospital staff had thought was funny until Maya started threatening _them_ bodily harm for laughing. There had been nothing Lucas could do to calm her down and honestly, he was a little bit scared to try.

But Maya was fighting and doing her best, and he couldn't be more proud of his almost, sort of, kind of, but not really, but might as well be because they lived together and she wore his ring on her finger and she was having his baby wife.

Maya squeezing his hand when another contraction hit her until the severe pain ripped him out of his thoughts. He inhaled sharply when he felt his knuckle crack painfully, the joint popping with a sickening sound, and he bit down on his tongue to keep from shouting out. It was agonizing, only made worse by the fact that she was only increasing the pressure with each passing second. He had no doubt Maya had just fractured a bone in his hand, but he could handle it. It was the least he could do for Maya who was in much more unimaginable pain.

It amazed him that for being such a short little stack of pancakes, she sure as hell seemed to have Amazonian strength.

"Lucas…" Maya said shakily, staring up at him with red rimmed, watery blue eyes, breathing unsteadily. "It really hurts. My back hurts, and I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep."

Lucas felt helpless, wishing he could do more for her, wishing that all the pain she was feeling could be transferred to him somehow so she could get through this more easily. She was incredible. The fact that she'd spent nine months slowly growing a baby inside of her and now was going through all this effort to bring their baby into the world was absolutely unreal to him.

"You're almost there." He leaned down and kissed Maya softly before pressing his forehead to hers with a smile. "We're doing this together, okay? You're doing amazing."

"I can see her head, Maya," Dr. Diaz said from under the sheet. "I promise it won't be long now. Push when you feel the urge. Breathe when you don't, okay?"

"Maya, breathe with me. In. Out."

She matched her breathing with Lucas', only stopping momentarily as she felt another terrible contraction and clutching Lucas' hand. At this rate, he couldn't even feel the difference between her squeezing and her not squeezing. His hand was on fire.

"You're doing great with your pushing, Maya," Dr. Diaz said. "Remember to breathe. Lucas, keep distracting her."

"I love you, Maya." Lucas murmured when another soft cry left her lips as she pushed again, her eyes squeezed shut as she concentrated.

"I love you too," she breathed out as she relaxed a bit and tried to catch her breath. "But I meant what I said. If you ever put a baby in me again, I'm going to kill you, got that?"

Heel clad feet suddenly burst into the room, making a ruckus. They both looked up in surprise, their brows lifting when they saw Riley.

"I'm here! I'm here! Peaches, I'm here!"

Riley squealed, wide eyed, looking frazzled and breathing hard, her business suit disheveled and hair in disarray, spilling out of her tight bun. She raced over to the other side of the bed and took Maya's other hand, holding it gingerly in her hand as she crouched and gave Maya a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Riley…" Maya whimpered and then winced, her face contorting in pain. "You made it."

"Maya, you're doing great!" Dr. Diaz encouraged. "Give me a nice big push on your next, okay? You can do it."

"I promised you I would be here, didn't I?" Riley smiled serenely, not even flinching when Maya squeezed both their hands as she pushed again. Riley glanced up at Lucas. "Farkle couldn't make it because he has a debate in another city, but he's flying in as soon as it's over. He said to tell Maya he's proud of her. And that he thinks Farkle should be her middle name. Though I disagree."

"Her head is almost out, Maya. Keep up the good work."

Maya cried out, shuddering a bit as she was wracked with another bout of pain.

"Maya, you're almost there. Just a little more." Lucas said when she had finally relaxed. "Keep your eyes on me. Right here."

She looked up at Lucas, smiling through her tears. Riley gently rubbed her fingertips on Maya's scalp, giving her a massage as Maya's breathing grew more ragged from another push.

"I just wanted to say," Riley stated, "that since Farkle isn't here, Katia's middle name should be the name of the godparent who _actually_ made it to the birth. Just putting it out there."

Maya chuckled, and then grimaced again, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as Lucas rubbed small circles on her hand, breathing with her as she prepared herself for another push.

"Alright, Maya. Just give me one big push and you're done! One big push, and your baby will be out! You are at the finish line!"

"C'mon Maya! I believe in you! You can do it!" Riley cheered.

Lucas stroked Maya's cheek tenderly, feeling his own eyes well with tears as she gazed up at him lovingly, sniffling and laughing a bit softly. She was almost done. They were almost about to meet their daughter.

"Thank you, Maya," Lucas said.

"Whenever you feel it, Maya. Push! You are right there!" Dr. Diaz said.

Maya took a deep breath and strained, her eyes shut tight as she pushed, biting her lower lip and giving it her all. Lucas ignored Riley's cheering, Dr. Diaz telling Maya to keep pushing, Maya's vice grip on his hand, the noise from the TV. He kept his eyes solely on Maya, his heart swelling in his chest as he watched her. There was something so profound about it, something he couldn't describe, but all he knew was in that moment, he knew he couldn't live without Maya.

The strangled cries of a baby resounded throughout the room as Dr. Diaz stood up carefully, holding Katia's tiny, squirming pink body in her gloved hands as she wailed.

"Congratulations, Lucas and Maya. Meet your new daughter."

Maya relaxed, her entire body slumping against the bed. She whimpered as she started to sob happily, reaching out for Katia as the nurse swaddled her in a towel and handed her to Maya. Katia let out a small, congested cough, her crying subsiding and face relaxing as her eyes closed. She breathed deeply, her tiny fists curling as she rested on Maya's chest. Riley teared up, wiping tears from her eyes as Maya held Katia.

"Lucas…" Maya inhaled shakily, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gently stroked Katia's back. "It's our baby…"

And Lucas couldn't help it.

He started crying too, laughing as tears fell from his eyes. It was just so unbelievable to him. He was a father.

Lucas settled on the bed beside Maya, leaning over and kissing Maya's forehead. He stroked Katia's head gingerly, his heart imploding in his chest as he gazed down at their baby. Maya's shoulders shook from her sobs and mingled laughter. It'd been a long period of time waiting for their daughter and the birth had also been long and stressful, but they had made it to full time parenthood. And the wait had definitely been worth it.

Lucas would never forget this moment.

"She's precious…" Riley whispered, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of the two of them before stooping next to Maya and cooing softly.

"Alright. Don't sleep now, Maya," Dr. Diaz said after giving them a few moments. "We're not quite done yet. We have to cut the cord, get the placenta out, and stitch up some slight tearing on the skin, but it's nothing to be worried about. You are almost done."

Maya sighed in exasperation and glared at Lucas, looking exhausted, her hair plastered to her face and forehead.

"Fuck this. We're never having any more kids."

~.~.~

In the calm of the darkened hospital room, Lucas gazed fondly down at Katia swaddled in her blanket, his mind still reeling from the fact that he was actually cradling his newborn daughter in his arms.

He gently caressed her cherub cheek with his finger. Her skin was soft and warm, almost plushy. She stared up at him unblinking with her big, beautiful eyes, clearly trying to get used to the light and the sights in her first hours of life. They were a dark bluish/gray at the moment, but Lucas expected them to lighten up later. He didn't know what colour they would end up being though he suspected they might end up being blue. Katia had Maya's mouth and really light tufts of blonde hair under her cap. He had a feeling she might take after Maya. Hell, she already seemed to have something of a defiant spark in her eyes.

When the nurses had taken Katia to go weigh her and check her vital signs after they'd cut the umbilical cord, she'd started crying pretty loudly. Maya had asked Lucas to go be with their baby while she had her examination so she'd have at least one parent with her, promising that Riley could keep her company while she waited. Katia had been healthy and birthed with no complications and would probably be allowed to leave with him and Maya within a couple days.

In the end, it turned out Maya really _had_ broken a bone in his hand as well as his pinkie finger, but he'd been able to get that checked out while Maya was sleeping. She'd conked out fairly quickly after the entire birthing process had ended, completely exhausted and spent after that long, taxing birth. She hadn't even woken up through the entire stitching of her tear nor when Lucas came back with Katia after getting his hand taken care of and settled beside Maya on the hospital bed.

Lucas wanted to sleep too after being up for too many hours, but he could wait it out until both his girls were feeling replenished and comfortable. Riley had had to fly back to DC pronto since she'd snuck out of an important meeting to begin with, but she'd promised she would be back with everyone else in a few hours.

Lucas smiled as Katia's eyelids slid slowly closed, her breathing a little deeper than before as she fell asleep.

"You're perfect. An angel," he murmured to her before kissing her forehead. Her eyelashes fluttered on her cheeks, but she didn't otherwise wake up. "Just like your mother."

"You seem to already have a handle on this father thing." Maya mumbled beside him.

Lucas glanced down at Maya slowly getting her bearings as she was roused from slumber. Her eyes were open though her face was still puffy from sleep, and she sounded drowsy.

"She's really calm. I was expecting her to never stop crying."

Maya chuckled softly. "As I expected. A real daddy's girl."

"Only time will tell. You want to hold her?"

"In a minute. I'm still half asleep." Maya yawned, snuggling her head further in her pillow. "I'm so sore. I can barely fucking move. Sorry about your hand, by the way. Though in my defense, you did crack a pretty stupid joke at one point. I wanted to clobber you."

"It's no big deal. It was nothing on what you went through." Lucas craned his head down and pressed his lips to Maya's. She hummed into his kiss, her lips curving into a smile. "You're amazing, you know that? I'm proud of you."

Maya yawned sleepily, shifting onto her side so she could rest her head on his shoulder as they gazed down at their sleeping baby girl.

"She has your lips and mouth. Probably will be just as mouthy in her teens too," Lucas said playfully. "She looks like you."

"Riley said so too. But I don't see it. She has your nose."

"I think she'll take after you. Maya two point oh."

"I guess we'll see." Maya laughed quietly. "I probably look like roadkill right now. I feel like shit."

"You're beautiful, Maya. Always."

She reached up and lightly brushed Katia's chubby cheek with her knuckle, her gaze warm and affectionate.

"I won't screw this shit up, right?" Maya muttered, smiling softly.

"You might if you keep cursing in front of her. Watch her first word be shit or fuck."

Maya chuckled tiredly and then sighed. "I'm serious, Lucas."

"You won't screw this up. We've been over this. You'll be a wonderful mother." He reached across and took Maya's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "And we're doing this together. There's nothing you have to worry about. I'll be right here. Always."

They held hands, watching their baby sleep.

"We did it," Lucas said. "We're parents now. Does that mean you're leaving me now that you've used me to fulfill your wish, Shortstack?"

"Not a chance, Huckleberry. You're stuck with me for life."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, Maya."

"I love you too."

They leaned over and kissed each other, happy that they had found each other again after all those years.

"Knock, knock."

Lucas broke away from Maya and turned back to face the door. Riley was standing in the doorway, their friends and family standing behind her as they crowded in the doorway, watching them on the hospital bed. Lucas' brows rose in surprise that Riley hadn't been kidding when she'd said she would come back with everyone. They were _all_ there. Even Farkle, despite how busy he had to have been.

"We brought presents for the baby," Farkle said, lifting up a sparkly silver bag with a grin. "Is it okay for us to come in?"

"Of course it is, Farks. I'm glad you could make it." Maya said, sitting up with a slight grunt. "Come meet Katia."

As their friends and family all filled the room, cooing and tittering excitedly at the newest member of the Friar-Hart family, Lucas couldn't help but be glad that the love of his life—his perfect woman, his best friend—had asked him to be her baby daddy a year and a half ago. A crazy request that had given them trouble in their relationship and had dug up old scars had brought him the happiest day of his life.

Lucas had gotten his happy ending with Maya—a _family_ —and he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 _~Fin!~_


End file.
